The Wolf Within
by Chain123
Summary: Born into a world of war, growing up in the burnt down remnant of his home, Tails has lost everything with only the beast within as his companion. An older Tails must now fight to save the past with only the Wolf Pack at his side.
1. Prologue

_Author's Notes: Well, decided to have a go at making a Sonic fanfic._

_Being a Tails fan, I decided to base it on my favourite character. I would like to say that this story is partially inspired after reading Tantrum's A Hole in Fabric. _

_OK, first off this story will be set on 3 different time lines. Present, near future and distant future. Just keep that in mind incase you get confused. Also this has no major universe to be set in. It can be early Archie based or SatAM, your choice. _

_All none fan chars are property of Saga and DIC._

**The Wolf Within**

**Prologue**

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_Present_

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Sitting, with his legs dangling over the edge of a small cliff face, a figure looked out at the almost endless sea of green the Great Forest emanated. The figure, clad in a long shabby cloak, smiled under his hood as his hands clasped the grass around him. He even started laughing lightly as his tear filled eyes took in the scenery. Even at night lit under the pale full moon light, he could easily say it had been the most beautiful sight he had seen in many years.

The figure wiped away his tears, still laughing before his eyes caught the camp fire just in the distance. He could just make out the small people clustered around the fire through the thick tree tops.

_Defiantly them_, he thought

He quietly backed away and made his way down a path that led him east, roughly to the camp fire. After walking for a few minuets, keeping his steps as quiet as possible, he eventually came within a few hundred metres of the fire just seeing the shadows flicker of the trees up ahead..

He withdrew his sword. It wasn't a particularly good sword. Infact is was justt a sharp piece of metal with a makeshift scabbard made out of two blocks of wood. It made little difference. Though it had done him well over the past few years, it had dulled greatly over continuous use and he knew there was no point sharpening such a rusty piece of junk since it would probably brake under the treatment.

He held the blade up to his face as he gave a final goodbye to it. He turned the blade in his hand, looked up at the camp… and lunged the blade into his arm.

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_Near Future_

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"Happy Birthday!!" Screamed the gathering.

Tails looked around his rather small and surprisingly crowed hut, mouth wide open and childish grin slowly spreading across his face.

Wordlessly Tails stared at his close friends, one by one, of course stopping for a good few seconds at the assortment of gifts laid waiting for him on his desk. All of his close friends were there; Sonic, Sally, Antoine, Bunny, Rotor, Mina and Amy were all there, cheering in chorus. Tails even noticed in his surprise Dulcy's head poking through the window. How she stayed hidden whilst he circled the path to his hut was beyond him.

"Guys, I thought you forgot!" Tails said as he jumped into the arms of the couple standing directly infront of him, both the squirrel and hedgehog smiling back.

"Us? Forget your birthday? Especially after hitting the big 10?! Get real, big guy." Sonic said, lightly lugging him on the cheek affectionately.

"How many times did he need reminding?" Tails asked Sally still in both their embrace.

"Only 3" Sally said honestly, causing the gathering that had circled Tails to laugh and Sonic to grumble.

"Anyway, lets jump straight to the best part" Bunny said, slowly nudging Tails over to the desk, though a feather could have been all the force Tails needed after he greedily noticed them in the first place.

Before Tails could make the final step, Sally sternly stepped in the way between Tails and the table. "We have one quick matter to deal with before Tails assaults (cough), I mean opens his gifts" she said to her annoyed audience.

Tails looked up getting ready for his famous "Awww, but Aunt Sally" quote, which over the many years he had slowly been perfecting. That was until he looked up and saw the smile adorned on her face. "A certain promise I think we should settle". With that Tails eyes brightened, as he remembered the main reason he was looking forward to this birthday in particular.

Over the years Tails had begged Sally time and time again to make him an official Freedom Fighter, trying over and over to prove himself. He either did so with training Sonic and Sally had set down for him, always acting as lookout whether or not he knew it was just to get him out the way or going on missions, whether or not he was supposed or even allowed to go. But each time he said anything, Sally would always say the same word… "Later". But after much prompting, she decided to give Tails a date in which she would fully initiate Tails. Though truthfully, Sally only did this believing that by the time he did reach 10 that they would have beaten Robotnick.

But Tails patients had finally paid off as he was led out by Sonic from his hut and taken to the centre of Knothole were Sally and the group gather in a semi circle, with Dulcy in the background, wiping tears from her eyes. As Tails was guiding closer, other Freedom Fighters from the nearby huts exited and followed. As soon as Tails was within the semi circle that closed around him, the circle grew with the number of the other Freedom Fighters present.

Sally stepped forward, trying to make this official as possible, for Tails sake.

"Are you ready, Miles Prower?" Sally said, smile now gone from her face.

Tails stepped forward, though a little annoyed at the mention of his real name. As he took the final step infront of her, Sally's gaze went from Tails to all the gathered Freedom Fighters.

"As I'm sure you are all well aware, today is a very special day" She said, setting silence amongst the group. "Not only a decade to the day, in which Tails entered the world… but 10 years, to the day aswell, since our world's future was snatched from us and left in the hands of Robotnick." She continued noting the surprising pass on a few members faces, not aware of the unfortunate date in which Tails had been born. Not only being born to a world which his mother had just left and his father already dead from the Great War. But to be also born the same day of its take over was truly horrific for the kit, not that he was old enough to remember. Unlike all the other members of the Freedom Fighters, Tails had never known a world of peace. He had only known this forest and the horrors that lay outside its boundaries.

"Despite that" Sally continued. "We will not mourn this day or look on it as a day of anger. Today we will see this day as a day of happiness as our ranks grow, if only by one" She finished as she turned to Tails as the gathering cheered.

"Tails… are you ready to face the dangers and pain you may endure, fighting for your and our freedom?" Sally asked

"I am" Tails said, trying desperately to keep a straight face.

"Are you truly ready to go out into the remains of this world and do all in your power to bring it back into its former glory?" Sally asked again

"I am" Tails repeated more sternly

Sally gave a quick caring smile before shouting, "Then it is my honour to welcome you to the first and last line of defence for this planet. You are now a fully fledged Freedom Fighter"

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_Distant Future_

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Tails stepped forward, lightly treading through the damp, dark street, humming slightly as he walked.

_Are you ready to face the dangers and pain you may endure, fighting for your and our freedom?_

_Are you truly ready to go out into the remains of this world and do all in your power to bring it back into its former glory?_

"Guess I'm about to find out" Tails said to himself.


	2. Chapter 1

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Distant Future

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Within the grim and menacing tower that loamed over the city of Robotropolis, there was little movement. Many years ago, when the war was still active swarms of SWAT-Bots and other mechanical devices kept a constant buzz of activity inside the fortress but now, many years into this so called peace, only the odd maintenance droid was kept on alert with all SWAT-Bots kept locked up to save wasted energy. All that now moved in the tower on this particular date was one round, hideous, devastating figure resting upon his black egg shaped throne, with a bottle on one side to him and a control panel on his other. All he needed now to run a world in luxury.

Robotnick held the glass in the air, ceremoniously.

"I wonder what I should make this toast to?" He said in his deep dreading voice.

He smiled, before taking another sip of champagne. He laughed to himself.

_To be honest… I have so many things I should toast to… Conquering the world seems a good star_" He thought, taking another sip. _Despite the starting fuss over the matter, how many beings in history, man or beast could say they had achieved as much as I have?_

Robotnick smiled to himself as he finished off the glass. He rarely touched alcohol in general. In his position he could hardly risk getting drunk with so many important tasks to do. But today was different. Today was special.

He poured himself another drink as he round egg-like body adjusted itself in his chair.

"How many in history have come close to making a single global empire… none. Even the Mobians, under the pathetic rule of the Acorns couldn't manage it with the Overlanders after the same thing." He said laughing. "Such an empire doesn't… didn't deserve the power it had. Just an empire which it took only one man to infiltrate and completely take over from the inside… pathetic"

He spoke out, to the empty darkness that surrounded him. He was effectively the last living intelligent organism on the planet. Another thing he toasted to. He had AIs running many parts of his empire of course, since it had grown far too big for just himself to manage, but they were low grade artificial intelligence. Just mass produced think tanks. He alone held the title of truly being "Alive".

Robotnick slowly got out of his chair and walked over to the main windows displaying his never ending kingdom. At first, when he set about making this empire, he didn't mind the idea of there being others around, Mobian or otherwise, to worship and serve him. But as time went on, as he lived with the Mobians when he was Minister of War, his loath for them even surpassed his hatred for his Overlander brethren.

Most would say it was slow grasping madness that compelled him to do what he did but he didn't care. They deserved to be burned for the constant troubles they had coursed him. All of them. Every Freedom Fighter that had the audacity to deny him the prize he had already won deserved his retribution.

And now… he was all that was left on this baron planet. Nothing could live out their. Within a few years, the air all around the planet, even in the most remote regions would become too polluted to breath. And for anything to survive out their, they would need clean water and food. Both of which had, again been denied by him.

Robotnick took another greedy sip staring down at his kingdom. It would be gone eventually. Not anytime soon but fuel would eventually be used up, and solar power was impossible with the sky completely covered with his black chemical gases. At some point though, his kingdom, along with him would be gone. And eventually, many, many thousands of years later maybe new life would sprout and spread throughout the planet once again…. _We can't have that now, can we,_ Robotnick thought.

So, in the later years of his rule, he had decided to kill his last rival and companion… the planet.

He had completely covered the sky, from every corner of the earth with various gases, those which would just stay up there for all time. From space infact, Mobius looked almost invisible, blending with the blackness of space perfectly.

As for the air, it would soon become too toxic for any living being, plant or mammal to survive in. In approximately 10 years the seas and oceans would become giant cesspools, not just for his waste but again with specifically designed chemicals to purposely poison them.

And then finally came the ground which he stood on. Though it would be past his life time, his empire would continue to operate and within 1 full century, the planet itself would be a contaminated lifeless ball of rock.

"Anything able to survive on this rock when I'm done won't be worth calling a living creature. Just some vile organisms able to feed off my pollutants." Robotnick bellowed.

"Sounds like you would go well together" came a voice

Robotnick shot around instantly, eyes wide in panic. It's impossible. It couldn't have been the computer, and there was no one else around, literarily.

Robotnick started to calm, noticing the room was empty. It must have been his imagination.

"Just the wind maybe" He said out loud, returning to his few.

"Maybe" came the voice again.

This time Robotnick knew it wasn't his imagination. There was someone else here, if that was possible.

"Computer, active lights and scan area for intruders" He demanded.

Silence.

"Computer?!" He roared

"Computer, activate lights" came the voice.

The room light up, revealing the intruder. He sat on Robotnick's chair, one hand supporting his head and the other holding a rather long sword. The intruder was a male fox, in his early twenties it looked. In Robotnick's shock, he stood back, mainly at the fact there was still one Mobian still alive somehow.

"You are probably the only person I have ever known or ever would have known, to speak of such genocide and suffering with such… pride" the fox said, jumping off the chair.

Robotnick quickly recovered. He had no reason to fear just one last pathetic ball of fur. "Well, I didn't think I would ever have guests in my home. Welcome" Robotnick raised a gun, one he had allows kept on him, mainly out of habit. "Well, may I ask your name before I send you on your way?"

"I doubt you need it. I hope you know me, if only through "that blue rodent"" the fox said, stepping forward, leaning the sword on his shoulder.

Robotnick wondered on this until he focused on one specific detail he had no noticed whilst he was sitting down.

"Aw, yes. I think I remember you… give me a moment… Tails wasn't it?" He said, eyeing the two tails waving behind the fox.

"I haven't heard that name in quite a while… mainly since no one has been around to call me it…" Tails said sourly, taking another step forward.

"Now, now" Robotnick said, levelling his gun. "No point being a hero with nothing left to protect. Anyway, you're no Sonic." He said, grinning

"No, you're right" Tails said, and as Robotnick blinked, disappeared into thin air.

Robotnick looked around in shock as the image of who he guessed to be Tails simply disappeared from few.

"No, I'm not Sonic" Came Tails' voice from behind him. Suddenly, in one swift and merciless thrust, the sword plunged into the back of his arm and went straight through to the hand, also destroying the gun. "Sonic wouldn't have done that"

Robotnick screamed. He held with one organic arm with his metal one, wailing at the pain the wound caused. He felt and saw his blood running from the palm of his hand and from the back of his arm. He wailed and swore as he tried to nurse the internal and external wound in some way to try and block or reduce the pain.

Tails though casually walked around him, sweeping his sword in long arcs, slice through parts of the ceiling, mostly Robotnick believed, to scare him. Before Robotnick could get up Tails sliced at the tendon at the back of his heel, making Robotnick tumble over, his screams turned to echoed whimpers.

"STOP, STOP!!! I'LL DO ANYTHING!" He screamed, trying to drag his way across the floor.

Tails though just ignored him and went over to the chair and picked up the champagne.

"You are doing well. I figured you would be celebrating. That's why I choose today. You're security is appalling" He said, whilst taking a swig from the bottle.

"Hmm, very nice" he commented.

"I'll… I'll give you anything you want. Just please, let me go" Robotnick begged, trying desperately to move his enormous body with just one working arm.

"20 years…." Tails said quietly. "20 years, since your take over. 20 years since the remainder of the Mobian forces were forced into Knothole and other parts of Mobius. 20 years… since I was born into the world you created"

Tails turned to Robotnick, smiling weakly. "So let's move on.10 years…" This time his voice wasn't quiet but icy with hate. "10 years, since everything I had ever cared for… everything I ever loved… burnt. All of it" Tails advanced on the whimpering Robotnick.

"And whilst you enjoyed the comfort in knowing your final enemy was gone, I spent everyday, every hour fighting with all I had… just to survive. Avoiding SWAT-Bot patrols, finding and rationing food… training" He said, holding his sword out. It was only then that Robotnick noticed 2 other things that he hadn't before. One was that the sword was hardly a sword. Just a piece of scrap metal with two blocks of wood nailed together to form a handle.

The other thing he noticed though was on Tails himself. He didn't look like a normal fox or Mobian for that matter. His fur was much longer then it once was. His hands showed long sharp claws, not nails. And his eyes… no longer the pale blue orbs they used to be. Though still blue they revealed a wild creature in him that only 10 years of hell could have made. He wasn't a Mobian anymore … he was a wild animal… a beast.

"You don't have the power to give me what I want." Tails said. Walking away, Tails kept his back to Robotnick. "I would kill you where you lie… I would so love to. But she would never forgive me. 'Everything should have a chance to live'. So I will give you the chance that we didn't have"

Robotnick mostly ignored what Tails said, trying desperately to find some way of getting the upper hand. Even if the fox did leave, he was losing blood quite fast. He needed medical attention. Suddenly he remembered. A sinister grin appeared on his face. He held up his robotic arm, aiming it a Tails.

There was the click of a gun being cocked.

"Guess you didn't know, but I installed a gun in my Roboticized arm just in such an occasion. Now… you will activate my computer system" he said, pleased at the turning of the tables.

Tails, still with his back turned, just sighed. He raised his sword in a flash and slice across the ceiling like he did before. Before Robotnick could fire at Tails, he noticed from the slight grinding sound why Tails had struck the ceiling.

Robotnick looked up in horror at the series of slices running side by side, in a full circle around him. And that last slice seemed to be all that was needed to finish off the job. Slowly, like a snail the edges of where the blade had struck started to part as the ceiling slowly started to come loose.

Robotnick desperately struggled, trying with all his might to move his one remaining arm but the time he wasted with his threat seemed to have doomed him. The section came loose with one quick movement and the scream that Robotnick released was instantly silenced, replaced with the thunderous sound of the rock crashing down on the floor. Blood floored heavily across the floor, running between Tails bare feet. He would have been disgusted by it but he really didn't care. He didn't feel pleased, happy, justified… just felt like he always felt. Empty. Only now just a bit more empty then he had before.

Tails poured some of the champagne over the pile of rubble, not out of ceremonious reasons. Just as a farewell… to the last human being.

Tails slowly made his way to the throne and fell in the fast egg like seat. He had spent so many days dreaming of this moment. So many times he came close to just killing himself to release himself of this nightmarish word, with only this moment to keep him going. He had dreamed of so many ways in which end the fat mans life or even keep him alive in perpetual torture. As he sat there, staring at the stain that was once Doctor Robotnick he somehow thought it would have been more…important to him. But he just didn't care anymore. For what it had taken to get here, he knew it wasn't worth it. And as Robotnick said, in the end, it didn't matter.

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_Present_

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Wolfs, unlike most Mobians were not so distant to their ancestral roots. Most Mobians lived peaceful serene lives, in civilised societies. If you were born a rabbit, fox, weasel… then they had freedom to go by whatever rules they wanted to, to an extent. Wolfs on the other hand had much stricter social structures in which cubs would be brought up in. Some wolfs could manage jobs which normal Mobians would do; plumbers, waitresses, tailors, ECT… Some wolfs where able to travel and enjoy the wonders that Mobius had to offer. But other wolfs had neither option. Some wolfs where bred, from birth to be fighters, leaders or survivors. Some wolfs where bred to be 'real' wolfs. It was for this reason that wolfs in general by Mobian rumour were said to be much more feral then other races. To be much more in touch with their primal instincts.

Most Mobians, long ago, were brought up like that infact. Some brought up only to fight, but as time went on and civilisations came and went, so did the standards and traditions that most Mobians went by. The Wolfs however chose not to take the next step into the next generations. With the constant wave of wars that seemed to go against the Mobians, either civil or national, there was always a need for good fighters and people who could live off the land. It was for this reason alone that the wolfs never chose to change their ways.

Obviously though disputes arose within the clans, some wanting to embrace another way of life and others whose blood stained paws couldn't live without the smell of battle. It was for this reason that the elders of the wolf clans choose to allow a certain number of clans to take a step forward but a few of the larger clans to hold onto the old ways. The future of any wolf entering the world was sealed only by which clan you were born in and what role your parents served, and unfortunately for Lupe, she was not only born into one of these clans, but was also the daughter of the chief of the clan. Because of these uncontrollable circumstances, she was raised to be the best… whether of not she wanted it or not.

"Lupe!" Came a cry.

Lupe, sitting crossed legged leaning close to the fire, turned to hear who had shouted. She recognised the gruff and gravely voice of her Godfather, Cilen. After her father's death in the Great War, it was left to him to raise her into the person she was today. She had once almost resented both him and her father, forcing her on such a strict life but now, knowing she would probably not be here along with her clan members if not thanks to her training, now saw Cilen as her father. So many of the wolf clans, since Robotnick's take over had been hunted down, one by one, leaving only the core clans, the ones which held to the old ways and could live in areas like the Great Unknown. Having that in mind, she really was grateful for what her father and Cilen did for her.

"Yes, Cilen?" She cried back into the gloom of the forest which even the camp fire could not pierce.

The other clan members, both sitting round the camp fire with Lupe or leaning against the trees, turned to see what the giant wolf had found.

Within a few seconds of Lupe's call, Cilen came into view, with someone draped other his shoulder, which he carried effortlessly. He came within the campfire light and carefully lowered the body onto the grass. It was the body of a fox, orange in fur with one large bushy tail, with much of his coat stained with blood.

Members of the clan gathered round at the body of the victim, some gasping at the extent of his wounds.

"I found him crawling just a few hundred metres of when I was doing my rounds. I don't know what happened to him though. He lost consciousness just after I found him." Cilen said.

Lupe stared at the wounds. They appeared to have been done by a sharp weapon, a sword she guessed. They didn't seem fatal but that depended on how much blood he had lost.

"Someone get me some clean water and the medical supply case from my bag" Lupe said, kneeling down and pressing he fingers against the foxes neck. His pulse was still going fine.

"Well, what have we here?" Came the ancient and friendly voice of the clan Elder. The wolfs around him knelt and backed away, as if he was royalty. He ignored this however and looked down at the fox lying on the floor.

"Cilen found him barely alive. He should live if he gets medical attention right away" Lupe said quickly.

"Well, if he's safe to move I suggest you place him in my hut. Don't want his wounds getting infected" The elder said cheerfully.

Some of the wolfs gasped. It was traditional that if travelling with an elder, then he/she would be the only one to have accessing to a tent, with all others camping under the nights sky. To have an outsider gain access, even under such circumstances was very rare.

"Elder?" Came the feint cry of one of the wolfs nearby, appalled almost at such a suggestion.

"He's not getting any better lying in the dirt. Cilen, if you would" The ancestor said, his friendly carefree smile sill dawned on his face.

"Of course, Elder" Cilen said, not even questioning his request.

Carefully Cilen scooped up the fox in his arms and followed Lupe and the Elder to the single tent just past the light of the campfire. As they did, two other wolfs attended to Lupe's previous requests and appeared close behind them soon after with both the water and med pack.

Cilen respectfully entered the rather large tent, easily the size to fit 5 sleeping people inside comfortably, and placed the fox in the centre. Both he and the wolfs took their leave whilst Lupe attended to the fox. The Elder, who's name was Cobol simply sat down in a corner and watched happily.

Lupe took to work, carefully sowing the deep cuts and washing the wounds with medical alcohol. The process didn't take long and the major few wounds were taken care of. Whilst Lupe was washing the blood that had tainted the foxes fur, the fox slowly opened his eyes, moaning slightly.

"Ughhh…..ARGH!" He shot up like a bullet, almost head-butting Lupe. He stared around the room widely, and then his eyes focus on Lupe's.

"You're still not well. It's best not to move." She said, gently leaning the fox back.

"W-where am I… are… "they" here?" He said, still looking around frantically.

"They?" Lupe questioned.

"The gang that attacked me. Some weirdoes in the forest that just attacked me, just out of the blue. They tried to… EAT me." He said, still in shock

"Sounds like the Nasty Hyenas" Cobol said

"Just what we need" Lupe replied "I'll set up extra patrols whilst we're in this area"

"Good. In the mean time I would like to have a chat with this fox, if you don't mind" Cobol said, still keeping his ever so friendly grin.

"But… Elder-" Lupe replied

"Please, Lupy. You can call me Cobol whilst we're in private" Cobol replied happily

"But…(Sigh) he could be a spy. I could easily see this as one of Robotnick's tricks. No offence" She said turning to the fox

"No offence taken" He said, not all that comfortable being in the middle of such an argument.

"Now I think I can handle myself. You sound out the others to be on extra guard" Cobol replied softly

Lupe reluctantly stood up and left the tent, leaving both the fox and Cobol alone. Once he was sure her foot steps had grown faint, Cobol turned to the fox, now sitting up.

"Well…. I must say that was some fine acting" Cobol said, laughing to himself. "Very convincing."

"Thanks" The fox replied, no longer with the terror in his voice but a relaxed tone as he spoke to the elderly wolf.

"Well… anything? I know it can't be either Lupe or Cobol, I hope you don't suspect either of them" Cobol said, though still dawning his smile, his tone turning to a more serious one.

"I suspect everyone. I can't let anyone be overlooked. You know what's riding on this" The Fox said, equally serious over the issue they discussed.

"Yes, of course. And the mission starts the next day… think you will have enough time?" Cobol replied

"If not…." The fox said, distantly.

Cobol grunted, knowing Lupe would probably return soon. "Well, the others trust your abilities. Though I don't see why you had to hurt yourself so much"

The fox smiled. "I can take more then you think. I'm still able and ready to go" He said confidently

Cobol grinned. "I see you still share a few traits with Sonic. You even have his overconfidence, don't you Tails"

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_Near Future_

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As the crowd cheered, Tails stared at the badge just handed to him. It was a bronze medal with wings coming off on the sides with the picture of an acorn in the centre. Deep down, he knew this was all to humour him, the crowd, the medal, the endless tests and initiation ceremonies that he had to go through. All he knew no other Freedom Fighter had to go through but now there were no more excuses. He wouldn't be stuck on lookout during missions, not if he could help it, and he knew Aunt Sally would see his worth eventually.

As the crowd part, the main Freedom Fighters returned to Tails hut for the present opening. Aunt Sally gave him a small computer. Nothing like Nichole, only for puzzles and so forth to keep his mind busy. Sonic gave him a new pair of shoes, roughly the same design of his only this pair had blues steaks running across them. Bunny gave him a series of books that they had acquired from an old library in Robotropolis, which both Sally and Bunny thought he was ready for, above his usual bedtime stories he was used to.

It was Antoine gift that really surprised him, and everyone else aswell. As he ripped away the wrapping and opened the box, he along with everyone else saw the beautiful crossbow inside. It was made of oak with a holster inside aswell. The two sides forming the bow on it seemed to be retractable and it was accompanied with 10 dummy bolts with hard rubber ends, 10 normal bows and even one bulky bow which had some sort of electrical device on the end.

"It 'tis an EMP bolt, from what I 'eard. It's particularly effective against bots" Antoine said as Tails raised the bolt from the box.

Tails beamed at Antoine. "Thanks Antoine, this is great. I'll practise with it everyday"

"Oui, I am glad you like it" Antoine replied. As Tails moved onto his next gift and Sonic examined the bow Sally yanked Antoine back and whispered into his ear

"Why would you give him such a dangerous gift, Antoine?" Sally demanded

Antoine, still keeping his smiling face as if he hadn't been asked anything leaned back further.

"With Tails actually coming on missions now and having to defend himself against SWAT-Bots, how would you prefer him to fight? At a safe distance, trained to keep cover and avoid fire at long distances… or just running straight at them in a charge… like ze hedgehog" He whispered.

"Hmmm" Sally hummed as she thought about what Antoine had just said. Tails did take all that Sonic did and said to heart. So if he did think of trying to fight the SWAT-Bots "Up Close and Personal" as Sonic would constantly say, then it's better to get him used to using ranged weapons now and get that out his system…. Did Antoine just make that sensible a suggestion?

_What's Mobius coming to_, Sally thought as she gazed at the next gift Tails opened. _Soon I'll be chugging down Chilidogs and Sonic will be coming up with the plans._

Soon the gifts where out the way and the party started to dissolve. Sonic of course stayed, bigging him up as much as possible.

"Man Tails, you really got the mother load this year" Sonic said grinning as he helped get rid of some of the wrapping paper. It was then, upon turning to Tails that he saw the smug look on his face.

"What is it?" Sonic asked slyly.

Tails had been waiting for Sally to leave to bring this up. "When are you going to do it?"

Sonic looked at Tails curiously. "What you talking about big guy?" he said placing a hand on Tails shoulder.

Tails sighed, enjoying one of the few moments where he had one over on Sonic. He reached his hand up and in one quick and unexpected movement reached into the glove of Sonic's hand and came back with a thin black box.

Tails smiled triumphantly, holding the box up. As soon as Sonic noticed what Tails had done and what he had taken from him his eyes became mere dots and his mouth trembled slightly. This only happened for a second before Sonic launched himself at Tails, trying to get his property back. Tails laughed whilst Sonic remained speechless through the rather short struggle.

Within seconds Sonic had the box in his hands and looked relieved but still slightly shaken. He had been so sure that no one knew.

"Come on, when are you gonna ask her?" Tails said

"Her?" Sonic replied innocently, "What do you mean?"

"Ow…" Tails said, nodding slowly. "So the ring is for Antoine I guess".

Sonic's hand instantly clasped over Tails mouth as he mimed him to be quite. Tails though, already tired to playing the cool act, was laughing within Sonic's grip. Sonic sighed after releasing Tails and sat next to him on his bed.

"How'd you find out? Snooping around him room?" Sonic asked, trying to guilt Tails into not speaking of the ring.

"Nah, you left it in my hut a few days ago. The inscription gave it away in-case you want to say it isn't yours" Tails said, laughing quietly as he spoke.

"Can't put anything past you" Sonic replied, ruffling up Tails hair.

"Well?! Come on Sonic, when will you?" Tails said, practically bouncing on and off his bed.

"I-I…I only made the ring in-case… in time… maybe… things went one way…." Sonic said, pausing for his obvious time stales.

"Come on Sonic. You don't have to hide it from me" Tails replied, slightly hurt that Sonic was still humouring him on the subject. Tails though had been thinking about this hard for the last couple days since he found and secretly returned the ring. It was only now he found he couldn't keep it in any longer.

"Tails. It's hard to explain." Sonic replied unsteadily.

Tails sighed. There was no denying by anyone that Tails was naive about some things but there was also no denying how serious both Sonic's and Sally's relationship had been going. It was obvious this would come and it was also obvious why Sonic wasn't taking the next step.

"Anyway Tails, we need to clear-"

"Chicken" Tails said softly and quietly. Sonic's ears instantly perked up.

"What?" Sonic asked in astonishment

"You heard" Tails said, quite obviously annoyed. "I didn't tell anyone about the ring because I thought you were saving it for something special but now… it's obvious you're just scared"

Sonic stared in disbelief. That was harsh, even by Antoine's terms.

"I thought you weren't afraid of anything. That's what you said to me" Tails said as if his hero had just turned out to be a fake.

"Yeah well, this is different" Sonic said, still surprised at Tails radical behaviour

"Pff, you're just scared" Tails said, head turned away from him

"Tails, I am not scared." Sonic replied calmly but appeared to be getting to his limit.

"Him, you're just scared, admit it" Tails said matter-a-factly

"I am not" Sonic repeated

"Yes you are"

"No I'm not"

"Yes you are"

"NO I'M… Tails stop it" Sonic said, obviously reaching his limit.

"Well then what is it?" Tails asked, still convinced it was down to fear

"Tails, this isn't something that you do, just like that. You can't be spontaneous about it. You have to pick the right time, the right place. Have the right mood about" Sonic listed

"Why?" Tails asked

"Well…."

"In-case she says no?" Tails asked again

"Well…"

"Urgh... that's it. Fine, I'll ask for you then" Tails said, getting ready to leave but Sonic already pinned him down.

"Don't you dare" Sonic said, now obviously scared.

"Well, she'll say yes so what does it matter who asks?" Tails replied

"Well… she might not do" Sonic said unevenly. This however was answered only by a frantic laugh from Tails.

"Well she might" Sonic said sterner

"Now I know you're scared" Tails said with a horrible mocking edge to his voice.

"Hey, don't start this again" Sonic growled

"Pff, prove it. I know you won't ask her. Even in your perfect setting." Tails retorted, still mocking Sonic ever further.

"GRR, FINE!" and with that Sonic stormed out, practically shacking the house with his foot steps. As he left, behind his back Tails smiled innocently

_What was it that Aunt Bunny called it? Reverse Psychology? _

As Tails got up, he gave a sly smile and turned to the window. He looked outside and saw Bunny hiding beneath the windowsill.

"Great plan, Aunt Bunny" Tails said happy at his result

"My word Tails, you dang near frightened me with that acting. Even convinced me." Bunny said, smiling proudly at Tails as she stood up and met him eye to eye.

Tails then drooped slightly, almost ashamed at what he did.

"Did I have to go that far Bunny?" Tails asked

Bunny wrapped both arms around Tails. "Shh, shh. It's fine." She said releasing him. "He had that lil old ring for a month and still hasn't popped the question. He just needed a nudge, that's all"

Tails nodded and then suddenly looked down at the time. "OW! Gotta go" Tails said, jumping out the window.

"What for?" Bunny asked as she saw him run off today's the forest.

"The next rings coming soon. I'm just off to go grab it" and before bunny could reply, Tails was already of into the forest.

Sonic wondered through the village, some villagers already up and about with training exercise and others just forming random crowds talking about the big day. Sonic though found he was only seeing a very small part of the village as he kept pacing back and forth, unable to make his mind up. He couldn't go back now. From the look Tails gave, it really did look like he was going to tell Sally if he really didn't go. How could he put him in this position? Didn't he know that this, of all things couldn't be rushed.

Sonic sighed, knowing now he was only arguing with himself. How long was he going to wait? Till the ring rusted? No, he had been putting this off… it was now or never…ok….GO.

Sonic still stood absolutely still. _Now I know something's wrong with me if I can't move._

_Come on, you can do this. Just go up to her… maybe I should wait till she's in private_

Sonic was then thinking on how he would convince Tails he would ask Sally tonight but just as suddenly he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned idly, not in the mood to talk to anyone at this point until he met the eyes of Sally.

"Sonic, I was wondering where you went. Mind helping me move some equipment for Rotor?" Sally asked.

Sonic was frozen on the spot.

"Sonic?" Sally asked

"Um, Sally…" Sonic then stared around. They were indeed alone… _Ow come on, you can do this you numbskull_

"Sally. I wanted to ask you something" Sonic said, jittering slightly.

"Sonic, are you OK?" Sally asked, slightly concerned

"Yeah. I'm fine…" Sonic tried to think of where to start "Sally, we've known each other for what, 12 years… since we were 4. Everyday, since then I've been…" Sonic trailed off.

"Sonic, maybe you should sit down" Sally said grinning at Sonic's behaviour.

Sonic lowered down on one knee and looked up at Sally.

"I said sit Sonic. Not kneel" she said, still grinning

"I know…. And I'm still kneeling, Sally" He said

Sally stared, dumbfound at first until it snapped. The grin on her face instantly disappeared as her eyes widened and she gasped as Sonic took out a slam thin black box.

"COME ON!!" Tails yelled as he waited on the edge of the ring pool. Usually he was quite patient with this, as he had done it many times before but he really didn't want to miss out on the big event.

Tails paced frantically, begging for the stupid ring to pop up any second.

"I'm waaaaaiiiiittttttinnnnnnnnggggggggg" Tails said and grinned.

_So that's why Sonic says it. Kinda stress relieving._

Sally stared at Sonic, still in shock at such an important moment which she didn't even notice till just a few seconds ago.

"Sally. Everyday since we've known each other, even as kids you've made me feel…. Different. Before then, all I lived for was running. I didn't have time for friends or anyone. I didn't think they were worth my time if they couldn't even keep up… but when I met you, I think I stopped for the very first time. I mean really stopped" Sonic said, still desperately trying to find the right words.

"Urgh…. What I'm trying to say is… you're incredible. Smart, careful, knows when to just slow done and not rush into things… that's why I think… you complete me. You're everything that's missing from me and well…" and with that, Sonic opened the black box and revealed a beautiful gold ring with a small sparkling diamond on the top.

"Sally… will you… marry me" Sonic said, gulping between his breaths.

Sally just stood there, looking straight down at Sonic.

Sonic was afraid to look up, almost picturing one of the many faces his imagination was cooking up for Sally to wear. But as his gaze did go up, he saw the tears running down her face and the smile on her face.

She fell down and hugged Sonic almost to crushing point.

"Ow Sonic" Sally said tearfully. "I…" suddenly her tearful blissful expression turned to one of confusion. She looked around, as if trying to find something. Sonic stared to doing the same.

Both could make out, just at the edge of their hearing a slight whistling sound, but steadily getting louder.

Tails was now getting furious almost. He was sure that by now Sonic would have done it. If not then he would have clobbered him if not for this.

Tails sighed until he heard a faint whistle, just like Sonic and Sally. He looked around wondering what on Mobius was causing it. It was then that he looked up. If he squinted, he could just make out a small black spot in the sky. Infact there where many black spots above him, so tiny that they were barely noticeable if not for Tails good eyesight, only gained from hours and hours of lookout duty. Tails then noticed, that as the whistling noise started to increase and more whistling noises started to join it and layer ontop of each other.

Tails didn't know why he did it. He didn't feel in any major danger, but for some reason he dived head first into the pool, no longer thinking about the power ring or Sonic's big moment.

As he dived, lower and lower into the seemingly bottomless pool, he felt an odd form of panic rise in him. He had no clue what caused it but all his brain was telling him now was to hold your breath and keep swimming.

As soon as Tails reached the bottom and his hands wrapped themselves around some underwater weed to keep him from floating up, he turned round and looked straight up at the surface of the pool and the rippling sky above.

As he looked up, he felt his entire body rumble, along with the bottom of the pool. Soon after, the clear blue sky, distorted by the water was replaced with rushing flames, licking and pushing against the surface of the water. The flames didn't die away like a normal explosion. They continued to fill Tails vision for atleast 10 seconds before the roaring flames where replaced again by pure blackness. Tails waited their, at the bottom of the pool, staring up in horror as if he had just seen the gates of hell open for him. As he quickly rose, unable to hold his breath any longer and his face emerged from the heated water of the pool he released, looking around that his assumption was very close to the truth.


	3. Chapter 2

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_Distant Future_

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It had been three days since Tails got the news. Deep down, it was no surprise to him, but still…. To have it heard out loud meant there was no denying it. Tails now was truly alone. All he had left was this demonic excuse for an empire, an army of useless SWAT-Bots at his command and all the… supplies he could wish for.

_3 days ago_

Tails had only just finished his skirmish with Robotnick when he ordered the best maintenance bots under his command to do one quick job for him. he now effectively owned everything Robotnick had. All his computer systems now recognised him as their master. Every robot had had these instructions sent to each of them individually.

He paced round the small room, right outside the main operating theatre where he could hear the continuous drilling, beeping and creaking that Robotnick's maintenance droids made. He only had to wait for a few minutes before he was called in.

As he opened the two main doors into the theatre and passed the few droids scattered around the edge of the main operating table, Tails was met with one of Robotnick's more advanced repair droids, unlike his companions, he was a fully mobile version with limbs and physic much like a slimmed down SWAT-Bot.

"What's… the damage" Tails asked slowly eyeing the subject on the table.

"Hard drive: mostly damaged and burnt. It may be possible to recover some files, but we estimate no more then 10 will be acquired which aren't corrupt. The external devices like the outer case, sound system, LCD screen and holographic projector are all damaged beyond repair but replaceable-"

"JUST tell me about the A.I. chips!" Tails shouted out, silencing the droid.

"All components linking to the computer's artificial intelligence including the core chips are completely destroyed. No chance of recovery" The droid replied

Tails stared down at the table, his teeth bare in anger.

"We have replacement parts on order from factories around the city. We can replace the computers A.I chips with adequate replace-"

Before the droid could finish the sentence, Tails unsheathed his blade and sliced the droid straight from head to thigh. "Any droid who makes any suggestion of that nature will be cut down! If you can't repair her… don't bother mentioning replacements."

All the droids, all with some basic level of Artificial Intelligence backed away, all aware at the danger they were in just being close to Tails in the mood he was in. Slowly Tails stepped forward and picked up the computer laying on the table, unplugging the cords attached to it.

Nichole lay in Tails hands, all surfaces burnt beyond recognition and the inside in no better condition. The last of Tails friends was finally gone and no chance of ever returning. All he had left was an empty shell as a reminder of what she did for him.

So over the two days since he had got the news, Tails had found one more companion to keep him company. One he found, upon leaving the repair bay and returning to Robotnick's throne, lay waiting for him on the chair. Starting with the Champaign, just because Tails couldn't stand to see anything go to waist, Tails slowly understood why some decided to indulge themselves in alcohol.

As Tails drank and finished the bottle, the sensation he felt was truly unique. He had no problems worth thinking about, no memories to bother him. They just washed away. Of course one half bottle of Champaign was no where near to bring him to this state. He needed far, far more 'samples' to gain this level of consciousness. And so over the days Tails had let go of all morals, cares and dignity and just drank.

It wasn't just out of a lack of care. It was mostly because he really didn't have anything to live for. No family he could raise, no one to help or care for. Nothing to nurture or work towards. He had everything in the world and but nothing worth living for. Any excuse to leave part of his pain behind was welcomed dearly.

So on the third day of his reign over the planet, he lay in his throne, many bottles littering the floor. He didn't like to think of himself as an alcoholic. More of a connoisseur. He never tried something he had already, tasting a new flavour each day. As the SWAT-Bot walked up to him, Tails through the empty bottle to the floor.

"What haven't I tried" Tails asked, moaning slightly

"Bourbon, Absinthe and Corn Whiskey are next to be tried, my lord" The SWAT-Bot said, setting down a tray and a single glass.

"OK, let's try the Absinthe" Tails said, slowly reaching down, ignoring the glass and taking the bottle to his lips.

"Sir, that's not advised" The SWAT-Bot tried to warn but was too late when Tails instantly spit out the liquid, coughing violently. "It's alcohol percentage is 73.5. Also known as the Green Devil it is one of the highest grade alcoholic beverages , my lord"

Tails, still coughing looked down at the green bottle in his hands. _How appropriate_, Tails thought.

Just as he leant down to try one of the other samples before him, he sighed. He was already getting the hits of his hangover and decided against making it worse for the moment. He dismissed the droid and decided to go through Robotnick's schedules for some level of entertainment.

"Computer" Tails called out

The computer screen infront of him blinked to life.

"Show me what my predecessor had planned when he was last in command" Tails said, shaking his head slightly to try and make his hangover more tolerable.

"Checking… Last date for tasks to do was on April the 16th, year-" The computer said

"Just tell me" Tails blurted out, wondering what Robotnick would have planned on his anniversary.

9:00 - 11:00 Not Assigned

"Guess that's what I interrupted." Tails said out loud.

11:00 - 12:00 Checking over of new buildings to be constructed in region Q236.

12:00 – 14:00 Not Assigned

"Surprised he was planning to do anything today, to be frank" Tails again said aloud.

14:00 – 16:00 Torturing of prisoner 19273

16:00 – 18:00 Check up on progress in city Devour

"Ummm…wait. WAIT, go back!" Tails shouted

14:00 – 16:00 Torturing of Prisoner 19273

"… Prisoner? All information on Prisoner 19273!" Tails shouted out, sobering up by the second.

"Prisoner 19273: No records. Only surviving Prisoner since Operation Retribution. Known information, Roboticized Mobian Hedgehog in Cell 234 in Cell block H"

Tails was already a blur as the computer finished off. All Tails mind was telling him was Hedgehog, Hedgehog, Hedgehog…could it be.

As Tails raced down the corridors, occasionally demanding directions from passing SWAT-Bots, he eventually found his way into Cell bock H. He slowly walked, passing each cell. 230, 231, 232… 233……

And, infront of him was the darkened interior of the cell. He slowly opened the cell door and walked inside. Upon walking a few steps, he noticed, slumped in the corner was a Robian. A Robian hedgehog to be precise.

Each step became louder and louder to Tails, as he began to breath heavily. Could it be? Please, god may it be… as he stepped closer he noticed the colour of the hedgehog (who appeared to be offline)… it was blue. At this he rushed forward and wrapped his arms around the Robian.

"SONIC! SONIC!! Can you hear me?!" Tails shouted, tears appearing in his eyes. But as he looked up, he noticed certain features he hadn't before. The colour of the Robian was defiantly blue but far lighter then the ocean blue colour Sonic had. On top of that the Robian had plain running shoes instead of the pointed red and white shoes Sonic wore and…. It was then that Tails noticed the key feature he hadn't before. This Robian had a moustache… it was Uncle Chuck

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_Present_

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"I doubt that, sir" Tails replied

"Um, if you say so. In any case you should know I can only pull so many strings whilst you are here. I can let you stay but you will probably be treated like a spy, which is normal custom" Cobol stated

"How ironic. Anyway, even with everyone's gaze on me, I should be able to handle myself. If you keep your eyes peeled aswell, there shouldn't be any victims" Tails replied in his monotone voice.

At that instant Tails raised his hand to stop Cobol from talking and pointed to the tent opening. Cobol nodded.

Slowly Lupe hunched down and entered the tent to find both the intruder and the elder just sitting there. She assumed she had just interrupted something but didn't pay any mind to it.

"All the camp is secure. We've changed the guard duty to have three people out at once" Lupe said, sitting down near Tails. "Now, do you mind if I ask you any questions"

"Um, not at all" Tails said, adopting his shy half whimpering voice. Cobol couldn't help but smile before getting up. "I think I'll have a walk about. I trust you can handle the questioning" and before Lupe could reply he quickly disappeared behind the tent flaps.

Lupe sighed and turned back to Tails. "Ok, first off can I have your name?"

"It's John Transford, but I'd prefer Cable" Tails replied

"Ok Cable. May I ask why you were wondering about in the woods? Are you a Freedom Fighter?" She asked, hoping to get someone who could vouch for him.

"No, that's why I'm out here…" Tails went quite, "… I. I used to live in northern Mobius, in a town called Woodpecker. We were one of the few places that Robotnick overlooked since we were hidden in the mountains. We managed OK but…" Tails faked trailing off

"Robotnick found you" Lupe finished.

Tails nodded staring at the floor. "He didn't give any warning. He just burnt out town to the ground and hunted the rest down with his army. I think I'm the only the who escaped"

"Did you have any family" Lupe said, trying to comfort him

Tails shook his head. "I grew up alone. I lived on the outskirts of the town, being the reason why I was able to get away."

Tails looked up, with determination in his eyes. "Please, I want to be a Freedom Fighter. You're Freedom Fighters, right?"

"Well yes but, we work separately from the main organisation." Lupe began. She lent her paw against her face as she thought. "Well, we are eventually going to head to Knothole after we have settled with our own personal errands. From there you should be able to reach your goal"

Tails beamed. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I don't know how to repay you"

Lupe grimaced. "I am afraid though that we have some rather strict precautions involving strangers. I am afraid we have to treat you as a spy, as a worse case scenario. I hope you understand"

Tails nodded.

"You will be tied up, though we will make sure of your comfort and you will have a guard whilst we are gone. Tomorrow we will be heading out on a mission, which I am afraid I cannot divulge to you aswell. After that we will be heading to a very secret place only wolves are aloud to tread so again…"

"It's ok, I understand. I'm still grateful all the same and can understand the rules you've set in place. I won't be a bother, I swear" Tails replied softly.

Lupe smiled and stood up, urging Tails to do the same. She and Tails left the hut and walked up to the campfire where the other wolfs all sat.

"This is Cable. He will be staying with us but I'm sure you are all aware of how he must be treated. All the same please be polite as he will be travelling with us back to Knothole… Jason, you will be his guard" Lupe said assertively.

Jason nodded and stood up next to Tails. "Come on. I won't bite" He said grinning.

Tails followed Jason through the tree line and stopped just infront of a rather large tree just beyond the camp light. He motioned Tails to sit against the tree. As Tails complied he felt his hands being tugged behind his back and ropes being wrapped around them and his torso. The ropes were firm but still loose enough for some comfort.

"Think you can sleep ok like that?" Jason asked.

"Yeah, I should be fine" Tails replied kindly

"Good, we have a couple sentries around so don't worry about those Hyenas. Just yell if you need anything. Also I'll fetch some leftovers if you're hungry"

At that Tails nodded enthusiastically. Jason walked back to the campfire and a few minuets later returned with a plate of various meats, obviously an animal one of the wolfs caught.

"You a vegetarian?" He asked

"As long as it can't look me in the face whilst I'm eating, I'm fine" Tails said, practically drooling at the plate of freshly cooked meat. Jason slowly lowered himself and placed the plate infront of Tails. He went behind the tree and soon Tails found he had the use of his arm.

Jason left Tails to enjoy his meal, which from the moans of pleasure he heard behind him, he guessed he would have trouble with.

Tails sat there, greedily biting down on the various chunks of meat littered on the plate. He didn't really care where it came from, just having something warm and savoury to enjoy was all that mattered. With seconds the plate infront of him was bare except for the grease stains spread around the rim. Tails gave a satisfied burp and leant back. Being a Prisoner of war did have its advantages.

The next day, still early in the mourning the wolfs were gathered round the remains of the fire checking over the plan one final time before departure.

"Ok, Jason, sorry but still on babysitting duty" Lupe said

Jason just nodded, already expecting to be left behind for the protection of the elder.

"Ok, this should be an easy job. Just one smelting plant with minimal security. Anyway, taking these points here will be Botolf, Cilen and Marrok. With me will be Bardou and Drago going after the central computer. Any questions?"

"Any point?" Drago asked wirily

Lupe just grunted.

"Ok, move out"

Hours later, already treading the dark tainted soil of Robotropolis, the wolf pack were sprinting along, jumping in and out of the shadows the constant maze of streets provided. Soon the factory appeared before them and Lupe gave the hand signal for them to separate. As the other three went off to one street corner, Lupe, Bardou and Drago ran straight through the small back entrance of the factory. As all three ran through the large smelting plant floor they quickly destroyed the workers and SWAT-Bots wondering around the area. Within minuets the factory was vacant expect for the three wolfs. Lupe smiled victoriously, taking out the CD Sally had given her and walked slowly to the main console.

"You two keep watch" Lupe said, whilst she inserted the CD.

"You got it. Just one thing…" Drago replied

Before Lupe could ask what he had to say, Drago wrapped his arm roughly around Lupe's torso. Before she could call out, speak or even fight back, Drago smothered Lupe's mouth with a white cloth. The second she struggled and inadvertently breathed in, the chemicals already began to take affect.

Just before her body became too heavy to support under her own power and her eye lids began to win the battle to close, she could just make out Drago's voice

"…Goodnight"

Cobol wandered around the camp idly. He occasionally spoke to Jason but none of their conversations last more then two sentences. Cobol thought about speaking to Tails but thought better of it.

Just as he was about to wander back into his tent, he heard a distinct static sound from Jason's walky-talky. Jason instantly picked it up and held it to his ear. He didn't reply to anything being said, just nodded and occasionally replying yes. Soon the conversation was finished and he rose to face the elder.

"All going well?" Cobol asked

"Yes. The mission's going fine" Jason replied

"Good. That Plant should be down in no time" Cobol answered back happily.

Just then he heard the cocking sound of a shotgun being loaded.

"I never said which mission was going well" Jason replied, taking aim at the elder.

"A. So you're the spy then. Damn, I rather liked you" Cobol replied, unfazed by Jason's actions.

"So you knew the wolf pack was beached? No matter. Any last words old man?" Jason asked, taking aim at Cobol's head.

"Yes if you don't mind. Could you indulge an old man and tell me who else has fallen to the other side, apart from yourself. Knowing who I can still count as a friend before I pass on would be very relieving" Cobol asked, still taking light of his situation.

Jason grinned, knowing the old man didn't have any communication device on him. "Only me, Bardou and the big man, Drago. But trust me old man, more will follow. With what Robotnick offers, so many more will join our ranks"

"Aw well, say goodbye" Jason said

Just as suddenly, a force knocked the shotgun out of Jason's grip and sent hit hurtling into the sky. As Jason's gaze was temporarily on the elevated weapon, another force knocked him off his feet and sent him flying against a tree. As he looked up to what had struck him, Tails stood before him, one arm raised.

There was no expression to be seen as he grabbed the falling gun and with one hand, aimed the weapon straight at Jason.

"Goodbye"

And with that, Tails pulled the trigger and saw Jason's chest practically explode from the hit.

Tails turned to Cobol, shotgun resting on his shoulder as the elder walked forward and said a short prayer for him

"Such a shame." Cobol said, with real pain in his voice.

"Yeah, never got to thank him for that meal he gave me" Tails said, not a shred of pain or glee in his voice.

As Lupe woke up, she felt heat licking against her legs. She opened her eyes wide as she took in her situation, which was grim to say the least. She was suspended in mid air, held only by a chain wrapped around her waist and arms, hangover over one of the smelting pits in the factory. She tried to remember what happened to her before she was knocked out but the call she got gave her all the reminding she needed.

"Hey, doll. You alright up there?" Came the sniggering response from Drago, who was leaning against the far wall.

"Why you?! What on Mobius do you think you're doing Drago?!" Lupe called, trying desperately to swing herself free of the bonds

"I wouldn't do that. Wouldn't want me to do something drastic" Drago said, with a menacing grin spread across his face. His hand raised and placed itself on a leaver next to him. Lupe's eyes followed the chain linked to the leaver and saw it the one holding her up. He held all the cards.

"Good. Glad you get the picture" Drago said, stepping forward

"Why are you doing this?" Lupe growled

"Because Robotnick asked me to. And because I'm such a nice guy by nature, I'd thought I'd help the poor fellow with his plight." Drago said, his grin ever spreading

"You fool. Robotnick has double crossed every one of his spies. Why do you think you will get away with anything" Lupe barked

"Ow please. Maybe in your eyes he double crossed those he entrusted with his tasks, but to me he only blessed those, whether or not they thought so themselves." Drago said, raising his arms ceremoniously "All he did was bestow his faithful few with strength and power that which they could never gain themselves. A power that I have not feared…. I have embraced" Drago's eyes were wide and practically shining

"Robotnick hates all Mobians. You are no different, besides the fact you're quite obviously insane" Lupe spat.

"I won't deny his hatred for Mobians which I may not share, I no longer care to fight against. Both me and my compatriots have given up that way. I am tired of fighting a lose battle. Every acting the wasp, constantly stinging away at our enemy. Though our strikes are quick and irritating, they do no real damage… and all we need to do is make one mistake and DANG!"

With that Drago pulled on the leaver. Lupe felt the sudden pull of gravity and the chain around her went slack and she plummeted to the fiery pit bellow. After falling for just a second though, the chain tightened again, leaving her hanging ever closer to the liquid metal.

Drago grinned. "We must win every battle just to stay alive, yet he just has to win once and we all die. I'm sick of it. But then I thought about it. What was the one thing that we all feared that Robotnick held over us? Robotification. It was what he gave to all that tried to side with him, whether out of spite or boredom. But now, the only thing Robotnick had I no longer fear. I side with Robotnick not as soft Mobian but…." And with that Drago raised his hand to his face and to Lupe's disgust, ripped off the flesh over his right cheek with his claws. And below the fur, skin and fake blood shone bright gleaming metal. "… as a brother to him."

"I do not care for the moralities of metal over flesh. All that means to me is strength and toughness. And in return I retain my free will. All I need to offer is my loyalty" Drago said, displaying his half metal smile.

"Anyway, back to business" Drago said conversationally "I need you to tell me where Knothole is. I would have preferred to simply follow you to reach it but I was told this plant has to remain active no matter what, so here we are. Mind telling me then, doll?"

All Lupe did was spit down at Drago. "You disgust me. You should know, if you were still a wolf that I'd rather die then give up the cause"

Drago simply shrugged and walked over to one of the corners of the factory, were Bardou was standing, a red light emitting from his eyes. _Obviously another Robian with free will, judging from his smile_, Lupe thought

Drago passed his companion, lent down and came back, dragging both Botolf and Cilen. Both appeared to have been beaten badly. He stopped infront of Lupe again and dropped the two bodies.

"Ok, lets get down to the nitty-gritty" Drago said, raising his arm. Before her eyes, Drago's arm seemed to rip itself apart, tearing away the fur and fake skin. Half the arm seemed to side in on itself and the other half moved around in different directions. What was left after this transformation was a large energy gun, still with fur and fake blood littered over the barrel. Drago aimed the gun at Botolf.

"Ok, where's Knothole?" Drago asked casually.

"I-I…." Lupe said

Without even waiting, an energy blast was unleashed from the barrel, vaporizing what was once Botolf's head. All that was left was a blackened stain on the floor coming from his cauterised neck. Lupe stared in utter shock, mouth trembling at what she had witnessed

"Too slow" Drago said, taking aim with the gun to Cilen.

"YOU MOSTER!! STOP DAMMIT STOP!!!!" Lupe screamed, tears running down her cheeks as she tried not to stare at what remained of Botolf.

"Or? You'll tell me where Knothole is?" Drago asked casually.

"I…."

"Don't start that again" Drago said, smile now gone and other hand placed on the top of his gun arm, obviously to reduce the recoil.

"PLEASE!! Don't kill him…" Lupe screamed

"Then just tell me…. Ok, I'll give you a scenario. Lets say you act like a good little leader and don't crack, even after I torture this guy infront of you. I then have to kill you. After that I return to the WolfCry Pack. All teary eyed, I tell them that our dear leader died in action. All I could do was listen to her last words before she left this mortal coil. All she says to me is… "Take up the leadership. Fight for our name…". How's does that sound. No one would stop me. Not with two witnesses. So… tell me what's the point of fighting back, honestly."

Lupe just started down at the floor, tears still running down her cheek.

"Ok, to set the mood, I'll give you a countdown. 10" Drago said

"9…8…….7, ow the tension, it's sizzling…6….5….4, I may just blow couple limbs off whilst I'm waiting…3….2………..Ow, fine. Seeya pops-"

"WAIT!" Lupe cried.

"Well… come to a decision?" Drago replied

Lupe could only watch, as Drago looked at her with his ever piercing eyes, sinking deeper and deeper into her. She was powerless. Utterly powerless in the one moment where her pack needed her most.

"Aw well. I tried to be nice" Drago said, sighing. Just before he sent the command for the gun to fire, he heard the sound from behind him. He quickly turned around and saw…nobody…. Nobody at all.

"Hey, Bardou. Come on. Stop playing about…" Drago said cheerfully, until he saw the form of 'Cable' walking out, carrying the body of Bardou… or most of his body. His torso seemed to have been sliced cleanly, with a few odd wires at the back still pull the other half of Bardou's body.

"Why… YOU!" Drago, said taking aim again with the barrel at Cilen. "Move and he gets it.

Tails eyes passed from Lupe, to Drago, to Cilen and then to the remains of Botolf. He looked back to Drago.

"See what I care. I only came for Lupe" Tails said, slowly walking forward.

"W-What? I SAID BACK OFF!!" Drago said, his gun arm shaking slightly.

"Isn't that nice" Tails replied. It wasn't casually like Drago said, fiercely like Jason threatened. It was simply emotionless. Without care or anger he stared at Drago, taking one step after another. "And as I said, all that matters to me is Lupe. As long as she survives, I don't really care"

"Please. Y-you're bluffing" Drago said, still worried at how easily he got passed his friend without so much as a scratch. It wasn't just that… the look that Tails gave him… it didn't scare him… it terrified him, and what was worse was he didn't know why. Just staring at him made him desperately want to turn away.

Finally he sucked in his fear and tried to regain his composure.

"Fine, LET ME SHOW YOU WHAT A FREE WILLED ROBIAN CAN DO!!!" HE roared, raising his gun. But before he could take aim, Tails simply disappeared from sight. Before he could activate his electronic senses, the end of a pole ripped through his stomach, trailing sparks and fake blood along with it. Drago only had a chance to stare at it for no more then a few seconds before he slumped forward in one slow motion.

"Not impressed" Tails replied, still holding the pole.

"You Ok, up there?" Tails shouted.

Lupe, still phased at what she witnessed simply nodded and turned back to Cilen. Tails followed her gaze. "He's fine. Sorry about that, I just needed to get close enough strike out"

Lupe stared back at Tails in relief when her eyes quickly shot to Drago, as his eyes met hers… he was still alive. With his gun arm raised, he took one careful shot before Tails could even notice. The shot passed Tails and struck the chain hold Lupe up.

Tails, eyes wide shot up, in one fluid jump, passing the ledge and hovering above the inferno below. Just before he started to descend his one fluffy tail erupted into two tails, with the string binding them both snapping under the power. Before Lupe even started her descent, Tails caught her in his arms and floated in mid air. Before he could react though, another shot was fired. He turned just in time to see the energy bolt coming towards him. In midair he didn't have the time to move out the way and the blast was going to strike Lupe if it kept it's coarse. Tails did all he could do and turned. He held Lupe, shielding her with his body as the bolt struck and passed through his shoulder. Tails grit his teeth, turning back to Drago, still smiling his ferocious smile.

Before he could charge up another shot however, Tails, using his one free arm, reared back and flung the pole he still had in his clutches straight at Drago. The pole struck straight through the barrel of the gun, just as it was charging again. Drago saw the barrel glow and before his computer mind could take in his situation, the gun exploded. Tails instantly turned again, shielding Lupe once more. As shrapnel erupted off in different directions, many pieces launched themselves into Tails back. Tails eyes widened as the pain struck him like a thunderbolt. He tried, with whatever energy he had to fly back over the edge of the pit. He begun to descend, still hold Lupe in his arms, just reaching the edge of the pit. And just as his energy gave out and his body sank away, he fell onto hard concrete, Lupe escaping his grasp. She turned to him shouting something, but Tails couldn't hear a word being said. His vision simply sent dark and he collapsed on the floor in Lupe's arms.

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_Near Future_

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The second Tails emerged from the pool, empty lungs desperate to engulf as much air as possible, all there was to great him was smoke. As he took his heavy and regrettable breath, Tails started coughing violently. Tails looked around with watery eyes and saw smoke in all directions. Smoke seemingly to be emerging from every leave, branch and tree around him, creating a fog like barrier around him. Since he could only see a few metres ahead if him, Tails tried to figure out which direction Knothole was in.

_Have to get to Knothole. If the explosion reached here, there's no way it could reach as far as the village but they're probably worried sick._

Tails calm and logical reasoning concluded this. He knew the extent on most of Robotnick's explosives and their range. Tails looked around and saw the smoke was not clearing. The only place he was safe to breath seemed to be the just over the pool, but beyond that Tails knew he would soon choke on the fumes and had no idea how far the blast radius actually was. The idea of simply holding his breath and running was not appealing, so Tails bent down, still floating on the surface of the water, and took off his shoe and sock. After placing his shoes back on, Tails wrapped his still wet sock around his face as a makeshift gas mask, just as Sally had taught him. He emerged from the pool and got his bearings after noting the positions of the burnt trees and went along his way.

Tails however did start to get worried as his smouldering surrounds continued as he journeyed on. Tails could have got out of that with simple reasoning that the bomb, if it was a bomb, could have been set off midway between Knothole and the pool…. But Tails knew from seeing it lick against the water that the explosion occurred away from Knothole and the pool. No weapon Robotnick had could causing this much damage.

Tails kept trudging along, his worries ever growing as he stepped over blackened grass which crumbled beneath his feet. The smoke still a wall infront of him, making it impossible to see if he was going in the right direction. Tails then started to convince himself that he had probably gone in the wrong direction. It technically made sense. If the explosion happened away from the pool, then the damage would be this great if he had gone towards the point of impact.

That fleeting glimmer of hope however was shattered when his eyes spotted a hut, no more then 10 metres ahead of him. Tails gasped as he saw the structure, wordlessly stepping forward. As his hand touched the torched wood, the entire hut collapsed on itself. As the final burnt pieces of timber fell to the earth, Tails ran.

He ran ahead, shouting… screaming, at the top of his lungs, begging for someone to answer. As he looked around, panting through his makeshift mask, he saw the huts of the village, ash over all the surfaces. The smoke still as thick as ever, Tails turned around, again and again trying to convince himself that everyone would be Ok. Suddenly he remembered the shelter. _Of course, they must have gone to the tree stump._

Tails, once again trying to gain his bearings, looked for the direction of the underground shelter. As he did he noticed, just as the smoke began to clear slightly, a figure just ahead of him. Tails grinned happily and shouted out, as he sprinted ahead.

What he saw however, he knew would scar him and wake him up at nights for the rest of his life…as he stared at the burnt remains of the Mobian lying on the floor, who's features were so scorched that Tails couldn't even tell what species he was, Tails noticed the gleaming medals that now were fused to his chest.

"A-A-Antoine….." Tails mumbled as he stepped back. He tried to shut the image out of his head, closing his eyes and shaking badly. As he turned and tried to run, he saw, no more then a few feet infront of him another body. As the smoke began to thin even more, he saw there were bodies littering the ground all around him. Tails kept turning, as the retreating smoke revealed more and more Mobians. Tails, still not shedding a tear or muttering a word, stepped back, the world slowly started to spin.

Tails started to hyperventilate, his fragile mind taking in scenes which a fully grown adult should never have to witness. All he could do was run. He ran in such a panic stricken state, that he didn't care in the slightest where he was going. He saw images, not flowing scenes now. Images of the large remains of a fallen and scorched dragon, again not stopping for the obviously deceased Dulcy. Next came the image of a burnt Mobian with metal limbs shining over the falling ash. Again not a tear shed or his sprint slowed, adrenaline pumping into his body in such vast amounts, the images he saw that fixed in his mind became distorted. Soon he had to stop, knees down on the ground. He was begging, pleading with whatever force above that what he was seeing was wrong. That he was hallucinating caused from the smoke, or even that he was dead and this was some sort of limbo for him to suffer. He would have so hoped for either of those realities but, as he was panting and breathing heavily, he saw what appeared to be another figure, lying down just ahead of him.

What he told himself was to leave it, just to go on to the tree stump, where Sonic and maybe even Sally would be waiting for him, but no… he slowly walked forward, ignoring what he was telling himself. As he walked forward, just a couple feet away from the figure, he noticed it wasn't just one person. It was two, one laying ontop of the other. Tails, his body still acting of it's own accord, slowly knelt down and shifted the body ontop. All the figures from before, skin almost completely black and skeletal were mere warm-ups for what Tails saw. From being sandwiched between each other, the two Mobians still had the flames lick against the most of their bodes but both their front sides could still be recognisable. Their looks however were truly horrifying. Instead of pure blackness, mixtures of bone, flesh and muscle could be seen over only parts of their body, whereas other parts had barely been touched. This effect was nauseating to say the least. From the look of pain on their faces, it was obvious for Tails to make out the following: they were still partially alive for a good few seconds of the explosion. They were mutilated beyond belief…. They were Sonic and Sally.

Tails effective parents lay their, Sonic ontop of Sally. It was obvious from his scrunched up face and his previous grip on Sally that he jumped on her to shield her. Tails knew Sonic's capabilities better then anyone. If he knew about the impending explosion, Sonic had the speed to even outrun the wave of fire. The problem was that Sonic couldn't have taken Sally, since the acceleration would have killed her instantly by snapping her neck. Tails knew all this well, and understood why Sonic did what he did, however…

"Why didn't you run?" Tails muttered, walking up to his upturned friend.

"Why?" Tails repeated, infront of Sonic, hands on his still soft shoulders.

"WHY?!WHY?!WHY!?WHY,WHY,WHY!?!?" Tails screamed, shaking Sonic in his tantrum. His screams echoed over the silent village. Tails just screaming with all the breath his lungs could give him. But as he stopped, he turned to Sally one last time and his eyes spotted the ring. The ring adorned on her finger.

All the tears that shock alone had stopped like a damn, had erupted forth, as he buried his head into the ground, again screaming at the top of his lungs. His eyes were wide open the entire time, his pupils practically dots in his water drenched white eyes. There was no more hiding, no more denying the reality that he faced or grabbing at illogical hope. Everyone he had every loved, cared for or even known was dead. Gone forever, leaving only scorched bodies, looks of pain permanently etched into their faces. And in the middle of it all, Tails sat, swaying back and forth, next to Sonic and Sally. His eyes dull and lifeless, almost hoping for the inevitable arrival of SWAT-Bots which would come after Robotnick sees the ruins of Knothole with his spy bots.

But as he slowly fell apart, Tails heard a feint crackling sound coming from his left. As he turned the sound became greater, as the crackling reseeded but a voice took it's place.

"Is anyone in the vicinity?" Came the monotone voice of Nichole.

Tails slowly turned and looked down at the remains of Sally. The noise came from what remained of her jacket.

"N-Nichole?" Tails said slowly

"Affirmative. Status report, please Tails" Nichole replied.

Tails gave his account at what had happened so far. It was brief and Tails was happy not to have to say it again as he finished. Nichole just waited there in silence and the second he was finished, Nichole instantly took control of the situation.

"Tails, take me from Sally's pocket. In your possession I will advise you what to do next" Nichole said

Tails sat their gingerly. He didn't feel he had the will to rummage through the pockets of the person who brought him up. He couldn't. He wouldn't. And as he thought that, he did.

As he held Nichole in his hands, who appeared to be mostly unharmed, he looked away from both Sonic and Sally and back down at the village. With most of the smoke gone, it was quite visible now. There was no building remaining. The very few that still stood were on the verge of collapsing.

"Firstly you must go to the tree stump shelter, and acquire some supplies. Tails quickly ran, not caring at what sights he now saw and just focused on the log. When he arrived and hoped beyond hope still that maybe some would be down there, his hopes were let down when he opened the stumped and peered down. The bunker was untouched with no one inside. Only stacks of boxes and stores littered the inside, as Tails lowered himself down to the dark shelter.

As he went to the boxes, he picked up certain items that Nichole insisted he take. A large bag, a gasmask, hundreds of tinned items, mostly food, a couple first aid items and an expandable container, obviously for water.

As Tails took the items he was told to acquire, Nichole examined Tails' condition. Her A.I. capabilities were rather high, able to detect Mobian emotions and respond accordingly. But Tails' condition was far more serious then what she could detect. From such a trauma though, Nichole was sure that Tails would want to talk about it, but instead he didn't say a word, just obeying all her commands. This Nichole shrugged off as just his Freedom Fighter training taking over and dictating him to act sensible even under such stress this event had caused. This though, as Nichole later found out, could not have been further from the truth.

As Tails packed his overly heavy bag without any fuss, and left the shelter, he shot off whilst he still had some cover of smoke, gasmask secured over his head. He made it to the edge of the village, and as Nichole had advised him, slowly began to walk. Nichole estimated that, with a weapon that could cause the damage Robotnick had, he would almost certainly not stop at Knothole. Infact he probably didn't know he had yet. It looked, as Tails stepped at the top of a cliff, that he was simply planning on burning the Great Forest to the ground. Infact, as Tails stood there, he saw one bomb go off about 10 miles off across the vast forest. It wasn't so much an explosion. More an ever growing dome of fire. It constantly grew as it reacted with the air and eventually took out a couple square miles of forestry. Nothing stood in the centre of the ring of blackness, just a plume of smoke rising into the sky.

Nichole was again surprised as Tails looked one, not blinking or reacting in anyway to the weapon's effect. It was then that Nichole's worry began.

And that worry had been growing since. It had been a week since the burning of the Great Forest and Knothole. To Nichole's instructions, Tails had walked the entire journey and had finally passed the forest and was trudging the Great Unknown. The current plan was to find the caves of the Wolf Pack, which Sonic, Sally and Antoine had discovered. There was a good chance that they survived the sudden push Robotnick was making.

But throughout almost all of the trip, Tails hadn't muttered a word. Only on brief conversations that Nichole started could she get any response from Tails, and his voice was certainly not the same. It was more like hers. Slow and emotionless.

It was then she knew she had to do something. First off she had to change her primary directives.

_Current Directives:_

_Owner: __Princess Sally Alicia Acorn_

_Protect __Princess Sally Alicia Acorn where possible_

_Provide information for members of the Freedom Fighters_

_Open security locks under appropriate circumstances…_

The list went on and on, but all linked to her knew life. Now she had one task for her, at the moment atleast. Tails

_Updated Directives_

_Owner: Miles Prower_

_Protect Miles 'Tails' Prower_

_Keep Miles 'Tails' Prower at a mentally stable condition_

_Open security locks when situation calls upon_

And again, the list continued as she made new sub directives all dedicated to Tails, as to her, he was all that was left. And at the moment, though his obedience was helpful, she new it wasn't natural.

She activated her search program linking to her entire vast database of information and searched for certain criteria:

Child, Trauma, isolated, lack of communication, loss of loved ones.

She activated the search and came up with one promising response above the others. It was from a psychology database she had on certain books made by famous doctors. This one she could acquire the following.

When a person, particularly a child looses a loved one, then they can react in many different ways, determined by the persons they have lost, and even the amount and how close they were to him/her. One particular response when the traumatic shock is so great is for the child to isolate him/herself in their own mind. This is to create a self imaginative world, in order to escape from reality. This may lead to cases of extreme depression or the inability to tell reality from the reality they have made themselves. One way in which to help the child is to give reminders of the ones they have lost to try and snap them back to reality and find a way in order to allow them to express themselves.

Nichole thought for a second and decided on what to do.

"Dear diary" Came the sound of Sally's voice from Nichole's speaker. Tails instantly turned and held Nichole up in shock.

"Today was our first raid and I can't believe how well it went. Even with Sonic in the equation, everything went down like clockwork. Before, I really did feel helpless just hiding behind people like Rosie but now… tonight is the first real time I KNOW we can beat Robotnick. Awww… I really don't think I will be able to sleep tonight with how exited I am, and knowing what Sonic will be like, I doubt the village will either" Sally said, with a laugh. "Anyway, I guess I'd better sighed off, as I hear the distinct rush of Sonic coming, goodnight" and with that, the messaged ended.

Tails stared and waited for Nichole's response as to why she had played such a message.

"Nichole, what was that?" Tails asked stupidly.

"It was Sally's diary she started after she became leader" Nichole replied, happy at such a response.

"Could I hear some more?" Tails asked hopefully, glad to hear Sally's voice again.

"No" Nichole replied flatly.

Tails brow wrinkled at her response "No? Why?" Tails asked angrily.

Nichole chirped. He was arguing which was certainly an improvement. Now she had to hope he would go with her plan.

"I will play her daily diary recordings, once a night. I do however have to ask that you, yourself start making a diary of your own. After you have made an adequate recording, which I hope you will try and use to express any suppressed feelings you might have, where upon I will play her diary entries. Does that sound fair?" Nichole asked.

Tails grumbled slightly. He was rather looking forward to hearing some of the more private statements that Sally had made, since he was sure he had never seen the real side of Sally, always hiding behind her ever protective mother figure she had, hiding her hopes and dreads from her innocent child. Now he would have to wait each night for it. Though he reluctantly accepted Nichole's terms, though not asking why she had given them in the 1st place.

And as Tails walked on, with Nichole in hand, they made their way into the new world that lay in wait for them. The world which Robotnick had slowly been sculpting over the years and taken a sledge hammer to. All that lay in Tails world were the memories of his family, the loss of all he knew… and maybe a new friend gained.

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Author's Note

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Well, another chapter done. Sorry about the wait. As I do more and more of this story, the more and more I kinda figure I should have rated this a little higher :). Anyway, hope you enjoy and please review (know i shouldn't say that myself). Btw, the two other timelines, incase you are wondering will finish within the next few chapters maybe, so only the "Present" timeline will continue. Hope you enjoy.


	4. Chapter 3

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_Distant Future_

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Tails stood in the bathroom that, to his disgust, used be belong to Robotnick. There was no other way about it. The one supply of easy to access water was here, so Tails had to shut off his imagination at what horrify sights these four walls must have witnessed, and turned the tap. Warm water rushed from the shower head, slowly soaking his rather greasy and dirty fur.

Tails, unfortunately hadn't had many chances in the past decade to bathe in any way possible, decreasing in his later years when he had to avoid open water altogether for fear of the contamination. Since he had arrived and taken Robotnick's kingdom, he now had a fresh supply of water to make up for all those unhygienic years. But since he got the news about Nichole he lost all care for this luxury he had gained and reside himself to his grease filled coat. Now however was different. Even with the knowledge that Robotnick himself had bathed in this shower was not enough to deter Tails. Not knowing that Uncle Chuck would be online soon and he certainly did not want the first sight he saw after years of torture from Robotnick was Tails in the state he was in.

Slowly, as Tails bathed himself in the water and using both a shampoo and conditioner from the corner, he mused at what had happened just moments ago. Not more then 1 hour ago had he found the remains of Uncle Chuck in the cell below. Tails knew he was offline with many of his mechanics out, like the ability to move his limbs. He was barely alive, depending on how alive you could be in a metal suit. He needed repairing, and though Tails did have some knowledge on machines, not only was that so long ago, and not also just because Robian design was far more advanced then the basic machines he used to mess with. It was infact mainly down to the fact he was still half drunk with the effects of the hangover kicking in, so with either state of mind he was in no state to help him. So he got the service droids to make all the necessary repairs whilst he repaired himself, so to speak.

Soon the water and chemicals had done their job and Tails coat was atleast near presentable. It was only when he got out the shower and started towel drying himself that he realised just how much fur he had. Unlike most normal Mobians, foxes for one, the fur length on the average coat was rather short in most areas (save the chest maybe). But Tails fur was much thicker and had much more length to it then a normal adult fox should have. This was mainly down to the living conditions Tails was forced to endure growing up, forcing him to grow much longer fur just to keep himself warm at night. Only certain species had fur this long, like the more primal ones, like tigers, wolfs, lions ect... He hardly recognised the ball of fluff he saw, as he stared into the mirror. All that mattered was he looked presentable atleast, Tails thought. He slowly put on a fresh pair of freshly made gloves, socks and shoes and let out a long drawn out sigh. He hadn't had the luxury of clothes of any sort as he grew up and finally ripped the old ones with his growth spurts. Now he felt atleast partially civilised. Atleast now he didn't feel so much like an animal… atleast not on the outside.

Tails quickly creased down his coat and made a run towards the main throne room where Uncle Chuck should be waiting. It had been nearly an hour so the droids should easily have finished such a simple job. As he entered the throne room however, expecting to see a surprised long lost Uncle Chuck, all he saw through the near pitch black gloom was destruction. All the droids had been destroyed, from a laser gun it appeared. As Tails stepped forward, his animal instincts practically screamed at him. He instantly jumped up-woulds, flipping in mid air as he felt the laser shots rush past him.

As he landed and black flipped back and hid behind the throne, he heard in the gloom "Come out you fat monstrosity! I'll make you pay a thousand fold for what you did!" It wasn't Uncle Chuck. It appeared to originate from Chuck's voice unit but the Uncle Chuck Tails knew and loved never sounded like that. The voice Tails heard was not so much an angry yell, but a furious roar and coming from Uncle Chuck's old, deep and gurgling voice unit, sounded almost frightening.

Tails could have guessed what had happened. He should have guessed what would happen infact. He had been tortured for nearly a decade; he comes online with his body in full working order and is surrounded by Robotnick's droids. What else could have happened?

Tails quickly shouted "Lights" lifting the veil of darkness in the room. As Uncle Chuck shielded himself from the sudden change in brightness, Tails slowly rose and stepped away from the throne. Uncle Chuck stared at Tails as his eyes adapted to the contrast. He kept on staring infact for another 10 seconds before either of them spoke.

"Good to see you, Uncle Chuck" Tails said earnestly.

Uncle Chuck just backed away and looking at the gun in his hands, threw it away. "Tails? Is that you m'boy?" Uncle Chuck said, returning to his familiar welcoming voice.

Tails nodded. "But… this is Robotropolis Fortress, isn't it? Where's Robotnick?" Uncle Chuck asked, slowly walking forward and staring at Tails.

Tails just turned and nodded to the pile of rubble in the corner, which was now Robotnick's burial ground. Uncle Chuck could see the dried blood emerging from the pile.

"I think you need some catching up" Tails said finally.

It took Tails nearly 30 minutes straight to explain everything. Everything he knew anyway. As he finished his 10 year catch up, Uncle Chuck leaned forward, mortified at what had happened.

"10 years…" He muttered.

Tails wondered. He knew it probably wasn't easy keeping time when locked in a cell for so long, but being a Robian, he should have some time keeping features. It shouldn't be that surprising it had been a decade since their fall.

Uncle Chuck, again, eyed Tails. He seemed staggered that the person infront of him was the lovable kit he once knew, instead of the adult infront of him. And after hearing his story, he could only imagine what Tails personality was like.

"I can't believe it's been ten years and…" His mind went back to Sonic and the rest of the freedom fighters. Tails however interrupted his thoughts.

"How do you not know how long it's been? You have an internal clock/calendar built into you, don't you?" Tails asked

"Yes, but Robotnick didn't just leave me on. After his… "sessions" he would just turned me off. Because of that, my minds all over the place. It only seems just over a week since he caught me." Uncle Chuck replied somberly.

Tails thought. "Computer, all information on Prisoner 19273 since operation Retribution"

"Operation Retribution?" Uncle Chuck asked

"Ok, start with description of Operation Retribution, then details on Prisoner. Also Sir Charles Hedgehog is now a fully permitted user" Tails stated.

"Accessing…" The computer replied. "Operation Retribution: the creation of a chemical called "Super Napalm" was the starting inspiration for this project. After four factories had been made for the creation of this liquid, 10 more where altered for the creation of containers of this new weapon. When ten were completed, Robotnick launched them all, one after another to set locations in the Great Forest. With all 10, 97 of the forest was completely destroyed, with the last 3 searched by units of SWAT-Bots. After this, 10 more bombs where made and where launched to likely areas of Freedom Fighter activity in different regions-"

"That's enough" Tails said, silencing the computer. He turned to Uncle Chuck. "So there you have it. Buttnick made this new weapon, burnt away most of Mobius and killed all other life on the planet. After that, he even went so far as to activate the Kill Switch on all Robians. Ok, computer, give me the information on prisoner 19273 after these events."

"Sir Charles Hedgehog was captured 6 hours before the weapons were primed and the 1st fired. After this Robotnick had him imprisoned with most of his electronics removed. After this, Robotnick visited him once a year on the date of the missiles launch and reactivated him for his own amusement." The computer chirped.

"So, I became his little play thing. Something to look forward to on his anniversary…" Chuck mumbled.

"It appears so" Tails said, as he rose from his seat. As he did though, Chuck looked up and asked "Wait, what about Nichole. I made her case to withstand enormous temperatures, so maybe-"

Before he walked away, Tails turned and reached down to his brown belt he had wrapped around his stomach. He slowly placed the remains of Nichole onto the table and walked away. Chuck looked down at the remains of what could be considered his greatest creation and at the scorch littered on the surface. _Funny_, he thought. _Tails never mentioned Nichole. What would he be doing with her?_

About an hour later Uncle Chuck was inside the repair room, which he had been housed in not too long ago. As he worked on the hopeless task of repairing Nichole, his mind kept bouncing back to Tails. He just couldn't fit the cute kit he used to know to what had stood before him just earlier. He just couldn't. And he felt horrible about it. He knew people grew up, changed and so on, but in Tails case the difference was so extreme. And as his mind went to how Tails had changed so much, it then added in on what could have possibly occurred to him to induce his transformation. What could the poor boy have gone through these last 10 years?

As he worked, he also found something else out. Nichole was indeed burnt, but the burns had come from the inside of her. Her circuits had fried somehow and burned herself from the inside out. Though he couldn't tell what had specifically happened to her, he could atleast deduce one thing. It had been recent, so Tails had her in his possession, probably for the most part of the 10 long years. That would explain how Tails had even survived in the waste land Robotnick had made. He couldn't be sure though. He had to ask…

Uncle Chuck got up and asked the computer on Tails whereabouts.

"Master Tails is in the throne room" The Computer replied

Chuck turned and made his way. Unlike Tails, Uncle Chuck didn't need any time adjusting to the base. He knew every corner like the back of his hand, mainly since his mind had been restored and he chose to act as spy for the Freedom Fighters, he had spent time in mostly all of them at one point or another.

As he entered the throne room, he instantly noticed Tails. He was slumped over the giant chair, with a tray of numerous sticky drinks lying ontop of it. Tails idling reached down and picked up one of the bottles. Uncle Chuck ran forward.

"Tails, what on Mobius are you doing?!" Chucked shouted.

"Drinking…" Tails looked down at the bottle "… a 2035 Merlot. Um, it's quite nice? Want to try some? I know the alcohol won't affect you but-"

"I mean why are you drinking at all?" Chuck replied, slightly horrified at both discovering Tails addiction and the fact he was so casual about it.

"May I ask what your problem is with me drinking?" Tails asked, his speech slightly slow and with the air that he was putting a lot of effect just to form his sentences.

"Yes, I do. I don't think either Sonic or Sally would condone such behaviour" Uncle Chuck replied, giving off the aura of the strict Uncle he had to do once in a while in Sonic's past.

"Really?" He said, his statement dripping with sarcasm.

"Yes" Chuck said, annoyed he couldn't show the annoyance he felt in his face.

"Ow dear. You're probably right, but to be on the safe side we should ask. Come on, I'm sure there's a Weegie board somewhere around here" He said, standing up and slowly saying from one side to another as he went to the computer.

"Is this how they taught you then? To be some pathetic drunk? You have the power to change the world at your very command and you decide, to use all that power to order another sherry. Do you even care about them anymore?" Uncle Chuck said, silently but still piecing in the scolding tone he was quite proud over. This however had obviously struck a nerve with Tails, as he turned around, no longer slaying and looked at him with murderous eyes. As he walked forward, his grin slowly dissolved and turned into a menacing sneer.

"Taught me? How do you mean, taught me…?" Tails said, a disturbing smile now appearing on his face. "…It sounds silly but, I know they taught me amny things. How to be a good, upstanding young adult and all that but…I can't really remember what they actually taught me…. No… I can't. I try, really….but…" His hands clasp onto the Chucks shoulders, his smile gone again. "…BUT…. every time I try to picture them in my mind…. Every time I try and remember the times I played with Sonic… Every time I try and remember the stories Sally used to read to me…. All I picture . Is" Tails poked Chuck on his shoulder, pushing him back slightly

"…their (poke)"

" …charred (poke)

"…rotting (poke)"

"…Corpse" and with that Tails pushed Chuck off his feet. It wasn't a loud or booming statement. Just to the point.

Chuck looked up in shock at Tails reaction, emotions obviously overflowing, begging to be expressed in either a roaring voice or physical violence.

Tails calmed down. "And that's it. Every time I shut my eyes. Every dream I've had for 10 stinking years. That's all I can picture." His head was looking down at the floor and then back at Chuck. "So don't even dare trying to tell me what they would do, what they would want out of me. Not when they've been haunting me EVERY SINGLE GOD DAMN DAY FOR NEARLY A DECADE!!" Tails roared through his teeth, nearly causing Chuck to back away in fear of his life. Tails turned away and went back to his throne and slouched down.

"Nothing matters anymore. Alcohol may only block out the pain for a little while, but it's all I have" Tails said slowly.

Chuck stared at Tails. Then he realised what had happened to him. He had seen it. He had seen them all…all of them…dead…. At the age of ten, he couldn't even imagine how that had scarred Tails. And that scar had only grown over the years.

"But there's still things to aim for" Chuck tried to reassure, once he got his nerve back.

"May I ask what?" Tails asked, almost mockingly.

"Well, restoring the planet? From what you told me, Robotnick did some serious damage before you arrived, so we could-" Before he could finish, Tails was already next to him, one arm resting on his shoulder as he guided him forward.

"Computer" Tails called out "Please tell my esteemed companion what you told me about no less then 50 minutes ago"

"Accessing…" The computer began. "Cultivation and restoration of Mobius scenario. Calculating damage done and continued if all factories world wide were to be shut down, there by stopping the supply of chemical waste to-"

"Just skip to the summery" Tails interrupted

"Summery: Restoration of Planet Mobius… Impossible. Damage done in terms of the survival of living organisms… Irreversible"

Chuck turned to Tails. "You mean…"

"Yep. If you, me, and every single SWAT-Bot on the planet started trying to repair the damage done, we still couldn't do anything. The black sky topped with the polluted rivers, lakes, streams and even oceans makes life surviving on this plant impossible. There's nothing left. Even with a couple hundred ice ages on our side, the sun would extinguish before this planet gets back on it's feet. So I've beside myself with heavy drinking personally" and with that, Tails sat back down and held up another bottle.

"Wait… there has to be…wait…" Chuck suddenly realised something. "I just remembered why I came here in the first place and got caught. I was wondering what had happened to Snively"

"Ow" Tails beamed. "I'll just call him. Snivly!"

There was a moments silence and then Chuck heard the tap of foot steps. He turned around and saw the figure in the door way, holding a tray of drinks and walking towards Tails.

"Well here he is. Acting as my new personal butler, since you broke my last one" Tails said grinning.

Chuck kept starring at what remained of Snivly, as his robotic body slowly walked forward and bent forward when he reached Tails.

"Have you finished your current drinks, sir?" Snivly asked, his robotic voice a hollow mirror distortion of his old weasely voice.

"So Robotnick turned on him" Chuck replied

"Yep, it was accidental though. Meant to do it just to scare him, threw him in the Roboticizer and threaten to turn the handle if he didn't get his act together. But he slipped and ended up killing off his last companion. I think that's what caused his dementia" Tails replied as he took the tray from Snivly.

"So… is that it? You're just gonna give up and wallow in self pity?" Chuck replied, returning to his original set goal.

"What do you want to do? What's the point on living anyway? Strive to personally goals? What goals could I set in this polluted ball of grime? Make friends? You're the only other living person on this planet. And as for making a family… if somehow by some stroke of luck Robotnick did have some form of fertility facilities around and I could make myself a family… I personally think it would be more of a sin then a blessing to bring someone else into this world. So tell me. What is there to do?" Tails said, staring hard at Chuck.

Chuck froze under the gaze, trying to find some hole in his argument but as far as he could see… there wasn't one. There really was no point. He decided to shift his ground.

"Ok then. Kill yourself. If there's no point, end your life if you want" He said.

Tails stared down at his glass, staring back at his distorted reflection in the wine. "I made a promise to her. "All life is precious. Everything should have a chance to live…" Those were her last words. So, despite how much I would have loved to have given up all those years ago, and even now… it's the only thing I can do for her now."

Chuck stared at Tails curiously. "Did Sally say that?" He asked

Tails stared up. "No. Nichole did"

_-----------------------------------------------_

_Present_

_-----------------------------------------------__  
_

Lupe wondered through the long stone halls, curious how she had ended up in this situation. Not more then 6 hours ago had she and "Cable" been carried into the secret caves on Cilen's shoulders. And now here she was, bandage wrapped around her waist, covering the one piece of shrapnel that Tails had not been able to shield her from. She limped slightly with each step, trying to suck in the pain.

After resting for a good many hours with her friend Shelk for company, she had been summoned to the Elder Council. She was standing, underground inside one of the most secret of Wolf locations. Elder Rock. The safe heaven for the Elders of each clan of wolfs to take counsel when in time of war. They would advise the leaders of the separate wolf packs and take in the wolfs who could or did not wish to fight. As she stepped forward she dreaded what she would have to say. Not only had parts of her pack been killed, but worse some had gone traitor. Such a laps in judgement by the wolf pack leader would be considered unforgivable and worth being stripped of her title.

She tried to think about how she would tell the counsel of her blunder. In some ways she felt she deserved to by cast down. It was her fault that one of her own pack had died… Botolf had died because of her.

As her memories went back to that horrible scene, she looked up and saw she was standing just outside the main room of the elders. She took a deep breath, trying to hide the pain her wound was causing her. She pulled aside the cloth shielding the entrance and walked in.

As she walked forward she took in her surroundings. This was the first time appearing before the Elder Counsel and she rightly felt nervous. She saw the room vaguely similar to the one her pack used to reside in. The one in which she had hosted Sonic and Sally upon their discovery of the pack. There was a wall shielded fire in the centre of the room, with various skins and pottery littered about the edge. The counsel were sitting cross legged around the fire, staring at Lupe as she entered and bowed. She noticed Cilen in the circle giving her a sympathetic smile and nod. Obviously in respect at her recent loss.

"Be seated" came the ancient and deep voice at one of the wolfs on the other side of the fire.

Instantly Lupe rested down in the opening in the circle. She breathed in, dreading the inquiry about to be brought down upon her.

"First off, we would like to give our deepest condolences upon your loss Lupe and we are sorry to have to summon you before you have a chance to heal properly" said the elderly wolf again

Lupe lowered her head. "Thank you, honourable elder. I am ashamed to have made such a lack of judgement on the matter"

The elders though just looked at each other slightly confused.

"Why might I ask do you feel shame on such a matter?" Another elder asked.

"If I had been fulfilling my duties properly, then I would have suspected those three traitors long before I would have placed the lives of my other clan members with them" She said quietly.

The first elder grimaced at this. "The fault lies not with you. Truth be told, if anyone should be held accountable then it should be us my dear"

Lupe looked up in surprise. "How so?" she asked quickly

"I hate to admit it but… we received information that your pack in particular had been infiltrated. We did not act as we should have done." The elder said quietly, shame now shown by him.

"So… you said or did nothing, even with knowledge that there may be a spy in my pack? You sent no assistance to aid us?" She said, suddenly respect cast aside for mild anger, slowly rising.

"Technically you did receive aid. And aid you he did" Came a gruff tinny voice from behind her. Lupe turned and stared into the face of Sir Charles Hedgehog just emerging from the entrance.

"You mean Cable?" She asked.

"Cable?" a couple of the elders replied in confusion.

"Cable was the name my companion gave himself, gentlemen" Chuck replied, sitting himself next to Lupe.

"You may know him as Tails, my dear" Chuck replied to Lupe. "You may know him… um, so to speak"

"Tails?" Lupe queried. Suddenly her mind was cast back to one of her many visits to Knothole. She did recall a young fox by that name, and he certainly had the trade mark appendages that the fox who just rescued her had. But the Tails she knew was only 9 years old.

"Let me explain" Uncle Chuck said, interrupting Lupe in mid thought. "I came to the wolf pack with a warning about your pack being infiltrated by Robotnick's forces. My warning would have been heeded at the time but just as soon as I had told the counsel, my other self had just sent a transmission to the main wolf pack base."

"Other self?" Lupe asked

"Yes. I am not from this time. I am from the future. Tens years from now to be precise" Chuck explained

Lupe stared at him almost in amusement until she turned to the faces of the elders, all baring a very serious expression

"My word on its own was not enough. To be honest it would be easy and expected of Robotnick to make a fake version of me and try and infiltrate the Freedom Fighters so they first suspected me as a spy. After telling my story and mentioning key facts that only myself could know to the council members however they gave me a chance. If Tails could infiltrate your group and sniff out the spies himself, then we would have proven ourselves" Chuck replied

Lupe looked at the council members in surprise "This can't be true. I mean… time travel? What did you do? Make a time machine?"

"We used a set of ancient artefacts called the Time Stones. I am sure you have heard of those" Chuck continued

Lupe almost chuckled at this but one of the elder wolfs spoke before she could.

"Despite what you think Lupe, we of the elder wolf pack are aware of the existence of those stones. Long ago our fore fathers tried to use those stones to try and end one of the wars between the Overlanders and the Acorn Kingdom. Though they failed, the existence of the stones has been passed down. Even if only through the mouths of our fathers and theirs before them, we believe they do exist."

Lupe looked back at Chuck.

"The future is grim to say the least. So both me and Tails took the stones to try and stop this possible future. In 4 days, all of Knothole will be burnt to the ground by a new set of weapons. After that, the rest of Mobius falls effortlessly before Robotnick's force."

"What?!" Lupe said, eyes wide in shock. "Then why are you here? Shouldn't you go to Knothole and set up an assault squad?"

"We were informed that that would not be enough. The problem does not just lie with the weapons but also with the wolf pack. Stopping Drago was required to."

Lupe looked into Sir Charles plain blue eyes, still unsure of what to believe.

"Before we can act upon Robotnick, we must stop one more incident from occurring. The incident that starts the chain of events that force Robotnick into launching the rockets. We have to make sure that the Blood Claw pack does not gain Alpha Leadership"

Tails lay on his bed, eyes flickering open and shut as he struggled to keep conscious. His body smacked him instantly as he struggled to stay awake with the pain he had been enduring for so long. His back was killing him, along with his shoulder. He looked down at his body and found someone had turned him into a mummy. His chest, shoulders and lower legs were wrapped with bandages. His body refused to move at first, trying to take this opportunity to heal but Tails wouldn't hear it. He had to figure out where he was. As he took in his surroundings as he leaned forward, a hand pressed on his chest and gently pushed him down. Tails looked left towards Cilen, who was staring passively down at him.

"You need more rest. You will be summoned shortly so I suggest you take the time to recover as much strength as possible" He said.

"Where am I?" He asked, staring around at the simple room.

"You are in the stronghold in which the elder wolfs residing. We brought you here since it was the closest place with sufficient medical facilities. I hope you are doing well?" Cilen asked kindly.

"Any chance for some pain killers?" Tails asked in return.

"Afraid not, no. Even here we have only bare supplies on hand. But thankfully your wounds were not too deep and the hole in your shoulders was very small. It should heal up in no time" He said, trying to cheer Tails up. Tails however just lent back and groaned

Tails eyes quickly opened as his mind reminded him on why he was here at all. "Is Lupe OK?" He asked quickly

Cilen smiled. "Yes, she is doing fine. Something I believe I have you to thank for, including the preservation of my own life. I can not thank you for your efforts" He said, bowing his head.

Tails just looked in mild confusion. "Um, no problem. So she is not injured at all?"

The expression on Cilen's face changed slightly but tried to return the reassuring smile. "She did take a small wound but nothing serious."

Tails tensed. "How bad?"

"I am not aware of the seriousness of it, but I know it is not fatal." He said, trying not to make such a big deal out of it.

Tails stare burned right through Cilen as that answer obviously didn't seem enough for him.

"Why do you ask?" he replied

"I just wanted to know if she would be fit for the Alpha Leadership Challenge…" He said.

Cilen's eyes widened slightly. "I'm surprised you know of that... I am sure she will be fine. It is 2 days before the leaders of the four fighting clans will meet and fight to decide who should rule the 4 clans. More then enough time to heal up. To be honest I think it's just a foolish and outdated tradition that should have been abolished centuries ago."

"May I ask why it hasn't" Tails asked curiously, having only heard of this tournament from Robotnick's database.

"The only person able to abolish a law such as that is the Alpha Leader. Unfortunately the Alpha Leadership Challenge, a tournament to become the Alpha Leader, is one only held in times of war, when the 4 clans reunite. The Blood Claw, Low Moon, White Fang and Dark Eye clans come together and have a simple tournament to decide who will be the Alpha Leader. A title won by muscle instead of the ability to lead…" Cilen said trailing off.

"The problem is that the only clan that ever wins is the Blood Claw clan. A group of blood thirsty and monstrous wolfs with the leader always being a devil in fur. And the leader who wins won't, for the sake of honour, abolish the code." Cilen finished.

Tails leaned forward and tried to stretch his limbs. Though a little stiff, the pain from his back and shoulder was subsiding. Despite Cilen's efforts Tails rose from the bed to put on the small collection of cloths he had. Just as he fixed on his gloves a wolf entered through the door away.

"The Elders wish to see him now" He said, and simply disappeared from sight.

Tails felt Cilen's hand rest on his shoulder. "You have been summoned. I will guide you to the chamber".

Tails had never seen the caves in which Sonic and Sally had gone through when they had met the Wolf Pack for the 1st time, but if he did he would have noticed the similarly of the design. It was obvious they were underground, moving through a serious of tunnels carved into the earth. They were primitive and were only lit with touches but were still well designed and maintained from what Tails could make out as he passed from one tunnel to another.

Soon he was led to a long passage where a fur coat blocked the entrance to the next room. As Tails entered he noticed Chuck, Lupe and the other Elder's sitting in a circle around a fire in the middle.

"I am sorry to summon you whilst you were still recuperating" one of the Elders said as they beckoned him to a place next to Chuck.

Chuck nudged to the left to allow Tails the room to sit himself down and turned to the rest of the elders.

"I believe I should recap now that we are all here. I believe we have proven our story with Tails actions?" He asked, which was received by a series of nods from the elders.

"So, now that we have flushed out the spies, we now need to turn to the matter of the Alpha Leadership Challenge" All eyes turned to Lupe as Chuck spoke.

One of the other Elders stood up as Chuck spoke. "You said that there could possibly be more spies. We cannot rule out such a possibility."

Chuck nodded. "Indeed. Which is why both me and the Elders decided on what course of action we should undertake. Our most important priority is to make sure that Lupe reaches Knothole and fights in the Alpha Challenge." Again the elders nodded at the statement.

"Because of the possible dangers you might face Lupe, we have decided that along with your clan, Tails should act as your bodyguard" Chuck finished.

The look of surprise on both Lupe's and Tails' faces were mirror images. They both stared at Chuck, both annoyed at such a decision to be made without their consent.

"I appreciate the idea, Sire Charles, but I have no need for any protection. Especially when inside Knothole" Lupe snapped back, though keeping her composure.

Tails just looked at Lupe and Chuck impassively.

"Lupe, I told you already. If the Blood Claw wins the tournament, then their leader will simply order the wolf clans onto an all out attack on Robotropolis. An attack which fails but shakes Robotnick enough to speed up his project. At the moment Robotnick only plans to use the bombs as a countermeasure and bargaining chip, since there are a lot of valuable resources in the Great Forest for him to gain. Under no circumstance can the leader of the Blood Claw clan win, so your safety is paramount."

"But he can't protect me. During the tournament the clans become isolated from other Mobians. As a fox, he can't just stay with the clan like that" Lupe argued

Even with his metal face, Lupe was sure that Chuck just smiled at her. "Yes. This is what me and the elders have been talking about whilst both you and Tails rested… a fox can't act as your bodyguard… but another wolf can"

_-----------------------------------------------_

_Near Future_

_-----------------------------------------------__  
_

Weeks had gone by and Nichole was actually quite happy, considering her position. Though unlike a normal Mobian, she had no way of expressing her emotions to the outside world, she did indeed mourn at the loss of Sally and infact all the other Freedom Fighters she knew. But she couldn't think about that now. All she had was one task, one mission, one purpose… Tails.

Apart from keeping him alive, she had one more prime directive. Keeping him sane. His survival skills that he had acquired from both Sonic and Sally had done all she needed from him on her survival, but as for his sanity, that was her main battle. And a battle she was winning. Once their journey had started, she had been so worried at Tails mental state, and rightly so. After what he had been through and seen, some full grown adults would have bearings on the world they had. But with the diary entries, Sally's voice records and the conversation she offered, Tails was finally coming out of the hole he had fallen into. Obviously he barely ever smiled and would wake up screaming and rolling roughly in his sleep, shaking badly. That she had expected from the information she gained from her physiology software. That couldn't be helped, despite her efforts. But atleast he gave the occasional smile and reacted to her voice.

Their journeying had been long, passing through the vast plains of the Great Unknown. This was what worried Nichole. Their had been no chance at all to get any supplies after they left Knothole, and no clean water or food could be found in the ash filled wastes that used to be the Great Forest. But despite her worries Tails had rationed the food carefully without any need for prompting. If she worked out well, their would be some supplies left, when they reached the Wolf caves, which she hoped the Wolf Clan would still partially remain. Nichole knew the journey would be reduced greatly if she let Tails go at his own pace, but she pick up the occasional sensors. Speed sensors, littered everywhere they went, be it in rocks, ash covered trees or under the gravel in the Great Unknown. Sensors designed so that after Robotnick's little fire party, he could hunt down the one person he expected to survive. Sonic. After his base was gone, Robotnick had taken no chances so that if Sonic had survived, he would have an entire planet after him.

Tails trudged on in his slow rhythmic pace. He replied the occasional questions given to him by Nichole with as short answers as possible, not being able to focus so much on what she said to him. He had had so little sleep. He found that even if he so much closed his eyes he saw their faces… their charred, pain filled faces. He couldn't escape it. He looked up at the sky and noted the darkness loaming over. He would have to set up camp soon and had no idea where he could do so not out in the open. He was effectively walking in the middle of a giant desert. He began to shiver as the warm breeze the desert wind offered was soon replaced by a merciless artic gust, cutting right through him as it passed. The wind would have been far worse if it wasn't for the clothing that Nichole had asked Tails to wear. It was new to him but now Tails wore a set of blue, red and black articles of clothing, collected from Knothole storage. He also wore the gas mask still to both save storage space and also keep the dust whirling around from being breathed in.

It didn't take long till Tails noticed a secluded pile of large rocks ahead of him. It wasn't perfect but they would atleast shield him from the wind and let him start a camp fire. He placed Nichole on a lone rock as he prepared to setup camp. This didn't take long as all he had to do was start a fire with some wood he was carrying. He had neither tent nor sleeping bag to keep him warm so he simply got used to wrapping himself in his own tails for warmth. At first it was unbearable to sleep so but as the days swept by, his care for sleeping at all went as well.

With his barely adequate camp set up, Tails went to pick up Nichole for his dairy entry but suddenly he heard, above the howling noise of the wind, a faint cry came from a nearby dune. Tails ears perked up and started at the source of the cry as he tried to see if it was just his imagination. There it went again. A faint cry coming out of the darkness. Tails heart leapt as the prospect of there being someone else alive dawned on him. He returned the cry and waved.

Almost out of nowhere, a figure loamed into the campsite carrying a figure in his arms. He was illuminated by the light instantly, telling Tails all he needed to know. He appeared to be a Mobian, though he was unsure about his species due to the gear he was wearing. He was wearing all white, surrounding every part of his body, even his face masked with some sort of gas mask. The figure he lay on the floor appeared to be alive, female, and wearing the same sort of gear he was.

"Thank god I found someone. I really thought I would be trudging this blasted desert to my dieing day. God bless you lad" He said, taking Tails unresisting hand and shaking it vigorously. Tails returned with a thin smile, as he bent down to check on the women on the floor. The man however lent down and took Tails outstretched arm lightly.

"She fainted from the heat. She's ok. She just needs the rest. Would you mind if we stayed here for a bit to rest?" He asked.

Tails just nodded as the figure already perched himself on a nearby rock and laced his hands over the campfire.

"Where did you come from?" Tails asked quickly as he regained his senses

"Us?... I'd prefer not to speak about that" He said quietly.

Tails nodded in understanding. "Robotnick?"

He figure nodded. As he did, Tails shook his head in annoyance. His voice was groggy and deep but it was familiar. The sort of familiarity that was just outside your train of thought but just close enough to annoy you. Despite his efforts, Tails couldn't place the voice. Despite his curiosity, he decided not to pry into the stranger's identity.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Tails asked

"Some water would be wonderful" He replied, wondering over to the wrapped up women, obviously checking on her condition.

Tails stood up as was about to go over to his pack when he heard the female figure wrapped up like a mummy near the fire stir. She seemed to moan and stir in her cocoon like wrappings but the other man just ignored it as if nothing was happening. Tails could stand it no longer and instead of speaking to the man, Tails bent down to help the women. Tails placed his hand on the chest of the white clothing to calm her. Just as he did so, her body went rigid and still like a corpse. Tails worried that he may of just done more damage then good removed the face veil from the woman to check her breathing.

Tails nearly screamed. The person beneath the veil was Sally. Her chestnut cheeks and red steak hair were unmistakable. Her eyes were closed and she had a look of mild pain across her face. Tails mouth gaped open as he stared down. He moved more of the white wrappings to reveal her blue tank top, verifying his belief. It would have been natural for him to call Sally's name out and try to rouse her from her slumber but Tails couldn't stop himself from staring back at the man.

He was on his feet, casually looking at Tails and back to Sally. He reached for his rode and undid the series of ropes wrapped around his body. As he did, groves appeared from behind his clothes from his back. Large bulking budges appeared from his head to his torso. And with one quick flourish, he flicked the robe off himself, taking the mask with him. Tails mouth only hung ever lower as he stared at the man. No longer clad in white clothing, the question Tails asked himself on the stranger's species was answered. It was Hedgehog…

"S-S-S…" Tails stuttered as he stared up at his living idle.

"Was wondering when you would figure it was us" Sonic as, his legendary spark glowing as he spoke.

Tails couldn't contain himself as he jumped up and embraced Sonic with a hug that could shatter a tree trunk. All the pain that Tails had felt and experienced over the week seemed hazy and dream like how as all there was now was Sonic. Just Sonic and Sally. All there should be. His eyes erupted as he pushed his head into Sonic's chest.

"Wow big guy, no need to suffocate me" Sonic said, his hand lightly resting on Tails head.

"Sonic… I thought… I…" Tails tried, his crying not stopping

Sonic just shushed him as he returned the hug, kneeling down and resting his little brothers head on his shoulders.

"Hush now. Come on, Sal doesn't want to see that" Sonic said, his voice still soft and caring.

Tails released himself, smiling at Sonic as he rubbed his eyes. The first real smile had given since the incident. A great broad grin on his face as he looked up at Sonic, still as cool and calm as he had been not just 10 days ago.

Tails released himself from Sonic's grip and ran over to Sally's body, hoping to make this reunion a perfect match. As he sat beside her and reached down, Tails expression of pure bliss slowly turned to one of pure horror. Sally stared up at Tails with a weak smile across her burned face. The same dead burnt face Tails had seen almost a week ago and that had been etched into his mind ever since. Her lifeless eyes looked up at Tails with an almost mocking smile across her charred face. Tails jumped back at the gruesome sight, trying to get back into the reassuring arms of Sonic. But as he backed away and he bumped into the tall figure of what he hoped to believe Sonic, two black arms, charred on one side and a horrible gruesome purple, pink colour on the other, wrapped around Tails.

"Come on, little bro. Is that anyway to act infront of Sal?" Sonic said, his voice no longer soft and gentle but rasping and deep, like the bowls of hell welcoming him. Tails looked up and let out a long high pitched scream at the monstrous figure of Sonic's corpse holding him, a horribly wicked grin plastered on his face.

Tails shot up like a bullet as his scream echoed across the desert. He stared around. No one except Nichole and himself sat in the camp, his own Tails wrapped around his body for warmth. Tails breathed slowly, cold sweat dripping off him. Despite how many times he had it, despite how desperately he wanted the dreams to stop, they kept on coming. Even if he nodded off, there they were. Both Sonic and Sally, staring at him with their cold dead eyes, piecing him. And each time Tails still believed they returned before the dream takes it's usually turn. No matter how much it hurt, at the back of his mind, Tails only wanted to see them again, even if in some twisted nightmare his subconscious had made to torture him.

Tails just shook his head and started packing away his gear. No matter how much he tried, he knew that he wouldn't get back to sleep. Nichole remained silent throughout the whole process. What could she do? She had no knowledge on what sort of advice she could give, and she knew that any statements to try and cheer Tails up would just annoy him. So they continued, as they had been doing so for a week now. Moving for about 18 hours a day, getting 3 hours rest and then starting again. It made good time but Nichole new that the lack of sleep was getting to Tails, and there was nothing neither of them could do.

As the sun began to raise after a few hours silent travel, Tails did something he hadn't done since his journey started. He started a conversation with Nichole.

"Nichole…" Tails murmured.

Nichole sprang to life, almost in surprise as she played virtual card games on her system.

"Yes Tails?" She asked quickly.

"What…what will happen when we reach with the Wolf Pack?" He asked.

Nichole paused. Part of her wanted to give the whole statistical truth to Tails, telling him that even with all the Freedom Fighters not stationed in Knothole at the time of destruction, survival on it's own would be a challenge. The fight was practically over except for basic scavenging. They had no where near the force to fight Robotnick now, especially with his new weapons. But another side of her just wanted to sugar coat the truth, as it had always been around Tails. Tell him things like "Robotnick won't stand a chance" and "You will live happily ever after". Part of her wanted to say that but… she had the distinct impression that Tails wanted a straight answer, despite the truth. Nichole thought hard.

"Well?" Tails asked

"I don't know…" Nichole finally replied.

"Do you… Do you honestly think we will ever beat him?" Tails asked, a slight edge to his voice that even Nichole didn't detect.

Nichole decided to be abit more truthful this time. "It won't happen soon. It could take years… but the possibility is still there. This fight has always been an uphill battle."

"So you think we might beat Robotnick, someday?" Tails replied.

"Yes" She replied.

"Good"

Nichole thought she had made progress. Such a response told her atleast Tails still had hope. Hope being the one thing he desperately needed right now. The sort of hope that gave birth to fighter's spirits like Sally's and Sonic. The hope for a future of peace and prosperity.

It was unfortunate for Nichole however that her ability to read emotions, though very advanced for a machine of any type, was still limited. It was a flaw in herself that in later years, when her Artificial Intelligence systems had evolved to a much higher level, that she would despise in herself. Maybe then she could have detected the cold look in Tails eyes and the ever so light venomous edge in Tails voice. The traits that did not give birth to such aspirations that she had in mind. At that moment, the hope for a better future could not have been further from Tails mind. No, the only thoughts that gave Tails any comfort and peace was not a restored kingdom, raising a family or even finding anyone else on this god forsaken planet. The only thing on Tails mind was Robotnick defenceless, himself strong and a few hours with a blunt weapon. The sort of thoughts that would have shocked Sally and Sonic to the very depths of their souls if they new what was going through Tails imagination. A moment. A single moment where he could take out all his frustrations…

All his malice…

All his pain…

On one... Single… Man….

…Him.

Until then, all he could do is hope. Hope for the future HE had in mind.

Tails travels however, did not end as quickly as he had expected. As for the end of that day, he finally faced the impending cliff face that housed the Wolf Pack's labyrinth leading to their main lair. Tails walked forward, a slight smile on his face, though mainly placed there for Nichole's sake.

Nichole though was practically dancing for joy. For here, she believed her main objectives to be complete. She had brought Tails to the designated location, and from here out, though she hoped to stay with Tails, she atleast knew he would get better mental help from other organics like him. Just being in the presence of other Mobians would do more good then any help she could provide… and part of that fact did depress Nichole. She had tried everything she could to help Tails on his travels. Giving him rational advice and also trying to take the place of caring guardian as Sally had done. But no matter the circumstance, she was still a machine, and a machine with limits.

As she always said to herself "A machines horizons are long but limited, but being alive… was boundless..."

Nichole directed Tails to one of the holes in the cliff face as she electronically ticked off her directives. But just as her last directive was being updated… her electronic sensors shot out.

An alarm was shot out from Nichole as she practically screamed through her siren, "GO BACK!!"

Tails, on the ball at the time thankful shot back just as he was taking his next step forward. He ran a few metres from the hole he was just about to enter when Nichole's alarm stopped.

"Nichole? What is it" He replied, slightly calmer then Nichole expected.

"My sensors picked up high traces of Carbon Monoxide along with various other chemicals in the tunnel… all highly dangerous." She said, slowly

"You mean…" Tails said as he stared at the black hole in the cliff face.

"The tunnels have been gassed." Nichole said flatly, as she re-updated her directives.


	5. Chapter 4

_Distant Future_

"May I be of any help, sir" Snively asked, again in his monotone emotionless voice.

"Yeah. Tell me how to save the world" Tails asked, hoping to get the little robot man out of his face for the moment.

"Very good sir" Snively replied, as he stalked away.

Chuck watched with a look of pity as Snively pondered away.

"That was rather cruel. He's a robot now. He won't stop working on the problem, just keep working on it perpetually" Chuck said to Tails.

"It'll give him something to do. Anyway, what would you have me do then?" Tails asked, returning back to the original statement.

Chuck grimaced. "I don't know. You own the planet practically, you must have something you can do. I just…" Chuck sighed and sat down beside Tails, his head slumped forward. "… I just can't stand to see someone like you destroy yourself"

There was a moments silence, as Chuck half expected to hear the gulp of more Merlot being consumed. Instead he heard the careful tink of glass on cement. He looked up as Tails put his wine on the floor and let out a sigh.

"Ok, I'll do it your way" He said, pushing away the other bottles. "I can drink any time. I have all the time in the world, literarily. So… what should I do?"

Chuck stared and let out a small smile, almost in victory. "I don't know…there must be something we can assert our efforts to"

Tails expression turned from his usual plain look to one of mild amusement. "We could try and make a deroboticizer"

"What?" Chuck replied, slightly shocked at Tails reply.

"Well, there's nothing I really need or care for, but if you want to get your body back, it shouldn't be too hard to make one. As you said, I have all the resources in the world on my side." Tails said, whilst rising from his seat.

Chuck new such an effort would only benefit him, being that he was the only roboticized person on the planet. Despite that though, the urge to gain his old body and to feel the wind against his spines and to taste real food again was too much for him to miss out on. And as Tails was offering…

Before Chuck had the chance to thank Tails, he was already leaving the room and calling out to Chuck. "You coming?"

Chuck bolted down the corridor catching up with Tails as he made his way to the main control room. "Where are you going?" Chucked asked

"If we are going to make something like this, not only are we going to need the original Roboticizer plans but there might be a slight chance that Robotnick made one on his own. Now that I have full, unrestricted access to his databanks, I can find out all I need in a second" Tails explained as he made his way forward.

"You have a point. But why not search through the systems in the other room? The computer can hear you commands from there" Chucked asked.

"I could but to gain the highly restricted information, I need to use the main computer system. It's the only area that links physically to the servers with Robotnick's most secure information" Tails replied, as they left the corridors and made their way to the launch bay.

"How do you know about this?" Chuck asked as Tails ordered for a fresh transport for their departure. It surprised him that Tails should know such information whist he, himself being the main spy for the Freedom Fighters had never heard of this Computer System, especially it being outside the main fortress.

As the transporter Tails asked for was docked and Tails made his way inside the small door frame, he turned back to Chuck with a grin on his face.

"Now do you think I got Robotnick's kingdom"

Tails and Chuck leaned back in their seats as the SWAT-Bot piloting made his way along the streets of Robotropolis. Chuck, not satisfied with Tails response from before, questioned him again on his response.

"So this Main Computer System. You used that to gain Robotnick's Kingdom?" Chuck asked

"Pretty much. Nichole found out about it and I used it to dethrone Buttnick." Tails explained casually as he rested in his seat, eyes closed.

"How though?" Chuck asked

"Simple. When I got access to the systems, all I did was upload the most basic of system commands. Replace Robotnick with Tails. A basic "If Statement" that gave me access by replacing all references of Robotnick with myself. All the systems effectively think I'm Robotnick." Tails explained.

"But how did you get access. A place like that must have had incredible security measures, both physical and for the computer system. How did you-"

"Looks like we're here" Tails jumped in. Before Chuck to finish his sentence, Tails was already out of the transport and jumping forward. Chuck had the hint of suspicion that what had happened hear was very personal to Tails. He decided not to pry any further and instead just followed Tails in silence.

The building they entered, from what Chuck could make out was just a front. What only appeared as a normal s story building was infact a huge underground complex. This became obviously apparent as Tails moved aside dusty boulders and groves the in the floor, revealing perfectly new and highly advanced security devices. Each one a way in which to get to the lower floors, going from one floor to another, looking newer and cleaner then the previous. Though almost gleaming new as they descended the 10th floor, none of the floors above or the one in which they where in appeared to hold an items of value, but with each floor, the devices which gave access to the later floors seemed to be more and more well hidden. As Tails moved to a seemingly innocent wall and spoke out "Access grade 3GHED34, Admittance for 2 people", the wall slid back in a smooth and crisp motion.

What was shown on the other side was an elevator, which had only 2 buttons on it, 10th and another button which was unmarked but far larger then the other. Tails pushed it and almost instantly the doors shut, nearly nipping Chuck's ankle and the elevator shot down, almost as if it was simply falling. Around 10 seconds after their rapid descent, the rush stopped almost instantly and the doors slid open, revealing their trip was over.

The main servers lay infront of them, each one placed in large, tank like bunkers, with the main stations rising high up into the blackness. Wires hung from every one of the, giving the effect of a highly complicated spiders web above them. A single computer system in the middle told Chuck that this was the main terminal to access the expansive amount of information being held in this place. Tails however was focused on the figure standing next to the computer, a shadowy hand over the main screen. To his surprise as he entered the dusty room from the elevator and the light from the single screen glowed on the figure, he found it to be Snively at the computer system. Tails was about to ask why his "butler" was here in such a secure area when the little robot turned and walked towards him.

"Sir, I have finished my assigned task" Snively replied

Chuck, who walked up to Tails, looked curiously him. "What Task" Tails asked

"How to save the planet were your precise instructions. I have accessed the databanks and come up with a list of options in which might facilitate your request" Snively replied

"What?" Tails replied, in confusion.

"You're done?" Chuck replied, in equal confusion

"Affirmative" Snively stated.

_Present_

As Lupe looked surprised and curious at the elder's words, and the elders themselves looked almost smug, Tails looked like he was on the brink of boiling over with anger. He had already correctly guessed what they were planning and despite his usual passive and uncaring attitude, he had to put his foot down to it.

"No" He said firmly.

"Tails, we haven't even said how we could make you a wolf-" Chuck began

"You are not going to doing what I think you are suggesting" Tails said, not so much displaying anger but just mild annoyance again, but an obvious mask to those looking. What he was trying to mask as anger was quite obviously embracement.

"Ow come on lad. It won't be permanent" one of the elders said encouragingly.

"Ow, I see what you mean" came a voice from behind Lupe. Lupe turned and looked into the familiar face of Amander. She, like many of the wolfs residing in the caves and halls were the none clan wolfs. The ones who had led normal lives and been the ones to suffer the most during the war. Now many lived as refugees in the caves, though it seemed strange, Lupe though, that she would be aloud to see the elders whilst in council.

The fact of the matter was, Amander was one of Lupe's few female friends, someone who she had met in normal life whilst making her few visits to the city, and was frilled to see her alive and well in the Elder Caves just after the war started. With the war on and the strain of leadership on her shoulders, Lupe found great solis and peace when letting her load off when meeting with Amander when she could. She was still amazed she was here at all.

"Aw, dear. Glad you could make it. What do you think?" one of the elders asked.

"I think that she wasted her time walking here. I thought this plan was almost a last resort" Tails blurted out rudely.

Amander just smiled at Tails attitude. "Ow, feisty aren't we. But yes. I see what you mean now, it could work" she said, turning to the council members.

"What could work?" Lupe asked,

"Well, as we said, a normal Mobian would have a tough time guarding you at this time but a fellow wolf… we think with some work, Tails could indeed make a fine member of your group." Cilen explained

"I don't understand" Lupe replied, still slightly perplexed. As she spoke, she could see Tails blush slightly, whilst trying to keep his calm collective expression.

"We wouldn't expect you to Lupe. After all, it is a plan that Chuck made, which we discussed and I believe Tails is grudgingly aware of. We sent word to Amander here to see if it could be done" one of the elders explained.

Lupe turned to Amander who had one of her more frightening expressions on. It was the one Lupe recognised when she would start one of her "Projects" when she was a cub.

"I'll explain" Amander replied, placing a paw on Lupe's shoulders. "The elders asked me to see if they could make a fox into a wolf. A strange request but me being the resourceful person I am, I thought I'd atleast take a look. The reason why I still didn't give it much serious thought was that though foxes are quite close genetically to wolfs, they still have noticeable differences to wolfs." As she spoke, she stood behind Tails, almost sizing him up.

"You see, the problem lies with a number of issues. For one thing, wolfs have much longer fangs then your average fox because we are much closer to our carnivore genes as a species then foxes. Along with that, we have much thicker and longer furred coats. We are also slightly taller then your average fox and are born with a bit more upper body strength. To top it all off, the coats in which foxes and wolfs are born with are very different in colour. But in Tails case, his fangs have grown much longer then a fox should, he has wolf like claws, his fur has grown far longer then it should have, and I must say, very unkept" As Amander rummaged through Tails fur and prodded Tails further.

"As for his upper body strength" Amander said, as she felt Tails unresisting arm and felt his muscles. She almost giggled. "I don't think there's a problem there. All in all, I don't see why Tails couldn't become a very convincing wolf" Amander said whilst she smiled her special smile.

"This is ludicrous." Tails said. "All I have to do is what I did before. Fold both my tails into one and pose as a normal fox. That way I'll be able to move about Knothole easily.

"Tails, the only place in Knothole which you will be needed is the wolf camps which as a fox, you can't reach." Chuck added in.

"But as a wolf, with two tails, though strange, you will still be accepted and most importantly, you will have full access to your abilities. Undercover, you won't." Chuck continued.

"The idea was only meant as a joke" Tails murmured.

Chuck looked into Tails annoyed expression and but new what was really troubling him. As a wolf, it would be much harder for him to see and find Sonic and Sally. Even if not as Tails himself, Chuck could see just how much he wanted to see them.

"So, it's decided" Amander said, almost as if she hadn't heard a single complaint.

"What about his coat. His figure may be one which can match a wolf, but an orange wolf? I just can't picture it" Lupe said, but was met by the truly horrifying grin that spread across Amander's face. It was then that Lupe realised why Amander had been called in for this. She was after all just a normal wolf, with no special abilities to speak of. That was what confused Lupe at first, but then she remembered what Amander had been training as, before the war broke out. Amander's dream, which she had shared with Lupe many times, was to become a hair/fur specialist.

"You're going to dye it?" Lupe blurted out

The next thing Tails knew, he was sitting, rather rigidly in Lupe's room, with Lupe and Amander talking just outside. Amander's mind was rocketing with over the top ideas which Lupe was having trouble arguing against. Though the need to dye Tails' coat had been decided (without Tails concession), Amander's imagination on what she could do to her knew model were going beyond her simple task.

"I think it would be perfect. Give off an air of confidence" Amander argued.

"You are to just do a simple dyeing. You are not to turn him into… well a Goth." Lupe said, thinking the idea of black eye liner, lipstick and other similar accessories of Amander's new vision were going over the top. She knew how Amander worked. Though she loved her to bits, when she sunk her teeth into a "Project" you either built a brick wall to stop her or she would run wield. The idea of displaying Tails natural aggressive yet saddening emotions in makeup was infact one her more sensible suggestions.

Amander grumbled, like a child being denied even the smallest treat. But Lupe's expression was rigid enough to show she wasn't getting anywhere with her suggestions.

"Amander, this is tough enough on him. I don't want to tell him he'll be the bell of the ball on top of what he has to go through" Lupe argued.

It was infact true. Despite how much harden Tails had become, there were some things you couldn't ignore or remain tough through, and dyeing was one of them. For humans, dyeing was just something fun or entertaining to do, or maybe just to make a statement. Both male's and females practised it and it would be considered sensible to a point. But Mobians were different. The idea of dyeing, especially full body make over, was only done by females usually, mainly for the same reason normal humans would. But for males to go through it, it would be easier to compare it to simply walking around in full drag but worse. Though a very simple activity, to males, the coat was considered almost sacred and should just to left to how nature should leave it. but that was obviously just an excuse for not looking after their fur and not having the courage to do something so drastic. It was just one of those rare differences that males and females had in Mobian society, and unfortunately for Tails, one about to happen to him.

Tails was sitting in his chair, not so much scared or embarrassed anymore. Mostly annoyed a how little choice he had in this. But Tails had sucked up his pride and not fought back against it… much.

As Tails pondered on what would actually happen to him both Lupe and Amander returned, Amander looking rather deflated.

"This shouldn't take long. It's a rather simple process" Lupe said, trying to put Tails at ease.

Tails just shrugged, trying to seeming passive about this, like he did about most things. "As long as it's quick" he said dully.

Amander walked up to Tails and handed him a jar. It was a pottery jar with picture of a wolf on it with a clear substance inside.

"So I pour this on himself…?" Tails asked

"Good lord no. You're saying you don't how to dye a coat?" Amander said, as if he had just asked how to use a door.

"It's not one of those things I think about" he said angrily.

Amander noticed the look on Lupe's face and decided not to press on with her taunts. "OK, it's very simple. Originally, when a Mobian wanted to dye his/her coat, they would use a chemical and message it with their fur. That however was a long time ago and cosmetics has come a long way since then" Amander beamed proudly.

"You see" She said point at Tails coat. "If we just use one solution, then we lose the texture and different shades in our coat. Like you have both orange, white, mixtures of brown and some dark brown shades round the back. Because of this, we made this. It is an simple drink that once taken, and the subject is mostly submerged in water, to speed up the process, their coat is genetically altered."

"WHAT!" Tails shouted, almost about to throw the jar in his hands away.

"It's not dangerous in the slightest. Their have been practically no medical issues with it, and those there have been have all been from an overdose of it, which won't happen. Anyway, all you have to do is drink it and rest for 30 mins in a bath and there you have it." Amander said.

Tails looked down at the jar and sniffed the content. As far as he was concerned, it might aswell have been acid. All it smelt like was oranges. After taking an over long breath, he slowly sipped the drink, until Amander took the jar and nodded in satisfaction.

"Um, abit too much but that shouldn't be a problem" she said

"What?" Tails asked. "But you said-"

"Yes but the worst that could happen which is incredibly unlikely is your fur falls out, anyway, off we go" she said, as she moved the unresisting Tails, who wore a look of pure horror on his face, to another room to the left of where he sat.

Tails was escorted into a large spa, candles littering the outside of the large, deep bath infront of him. The room as heavily steamy with the hot water heating the room up.

"You should consider yourself fortunate that Lupe's so nice, letting you use her private bath" Amander said, a wicked smile on her face.

Tails looked at Amander as she giggled quickly and disappeared behind the door. He just heard the door clicking as he turned to the bath. It was magnificent, practically a small pool then a bath. Though not much space around the bath, it was very deep, giving pure freedom and bliss to anyone bathing in it. And as for lack of movement, as Tails slowly moved into the perfectly heated water and let out one long drawn out sigh, it didn't seem important.

As Tails let his whole body be submerged and breathed in the steamy air, all troubles and arches he had seemed more like a blissful memory. Though he had, at one point had a shower recently, that could hardly compare with such a feely, after a decade of living rough.

Tails didn't even bother bathing himself properly, just letting the warm water soak into his fur and let his body float below the water, his toes barley skimming the floor.

As Tails lay there, his mind went back, long ago, to a similar memory he had. In Knothole, having a warm shower was difficult enough with the difficulty and need to warm gallons of water, so cold swims in the river was the best Tails could usually manage, along with everyone else. But on one special day, Sonic had taken him on a trip to the Great Unknown to one of the many hot springs made by the volcanic activity in the area. It was pure heaven to Tails as his admiration for Sonic for finding such a paradise grew even further. He still remembered to this day how he felt and how Sonic and Tails talked.

"AGHHHHhhhhhh….." Tails said, as he lowered himself quickly into the steamy pool, unaware of the heat emanating from the water. His cry of pain was quickly subsided by a long sigh. Sonic only laughed at Tails cockiness.

"I did warn you, little buddy" Sonic said, as he carefully lowered himself into the pool next to Tails.

Tails just ignored him as he rested his arms against the rocky sides of the pool, eyes closed.

"I can't believe a place like this exists. You rule Sonic" Tails said happily.

"Naturally" Sonic said grinning. "Anyway, don't tell anyone about this place. This is our little secret Tails"

"Sure. Who else knows?" Tails asked, a little surprised at Sonic's secrecy.

"Just the two of us." Sonic said as he let his feet bob over the edge of the water.

"What? Not even Aunt Sally knows?" Tails said, wondering why Sonic would keep such a spot all to himself.

"Nope." Sonic said simply.

Tails stared in confusion. He would have thought the first person that Sonic would tell would be Sally, at least.

"Something wrong, little buddy?" Sonic asked as he turned to face Tails finally, who was staring at the floor.

"Ow, nothing" Tails said quietly, still staring down. He looked up as he heard the splash of Sonic dowsing Tails in the face with water. Tails Gasped and fell backward into his pool out of shock. As he emerged with a slight scowl, it quickly retracted into a smirk as he turned around and placed his hands on the edge of the pool, his back facing Sonic.

"Come on, out with it" Sonic said grinning, but his grin quickly disappeared as he saw Tails spinning his name sakes as tremendous speeds, causing a torrent of water to emerge from his pool and knock Sonic out of his pool. Sonic lay on the rocks as Tails sat on the edge of his pool, his innocent grin still on his face.

"There was no need for that" Sonic said, chuckling slightly as he wiped the water from his eyes.

"Come on Sonic. I don't see why Aunt Sally shouldn't be told?" Tails asked.

"You kidding?" Sonic said, laughing as he entered the pool again. "If I let Sally know, no matter what I say, she will still tell all the other girls in Knothole. And incase you don't know, that will make this an almost certain girls only area, and me having to taking them all here and back."

Tails nodded, whether he really understood or not. "But I'm sure if you make Sally promise she would keep it to herself, and maybe Aunt Bunny"

"Who will tell Dulcy who will tell Mina bla bla bla, trust me. Trust me, you don't know how much girls whine about having to wash themselves in cold water, at least compared to guys" Sonic replied

"Um, guess you're right" Tails agreed.

"Course I am" Sonic said in his dramatic booming voice. "And why?"

Tails sniggered, knowing the proper ego inflating response. "Because..."

"You just didn't want to bathe with Sally" Tails of the present said.

With all his reminiscing over the past, Tails had actually fallen asleep, dreaming of his old days with Sonic. Tails looked around as he stood up and got out the bath. He had obviously been asleep for only a short time but just enough for the room to completely fill with steam. Tails, who could barely see the nose in front of him, reached out and with some luck found the door handle. As he exited the room, coughing slightly from the steam, he saw as it dissipated, Lupe sat down reading a book and Amanda looking bored.

Both stared at Tails...

There was a long silence, as Tails had forgot why he had even taken the bath in the first place. After a few more seconds, the tension finally broke and whatever will power both Lupe and Amanda had had snapped simultaneously.

They laughed. A long loud uncontainable laugh. Amanda practically fell to the floor, trying to hold back tears. Tails just took it all in with a look of confusion planted on his face. That was until he remembered why he had taken the bath, and decided to look down at himself.

His chest hair remained a pure snow white colour as it did before the process, but he noted with a grim and horrify stare that the rest of his body had gone from a mild orange to a bright extravagant...

"...Pink?!?"

_Future_

It was a true wonder of nature. In the midst of a war torn and ruined planet, one small patch of land had roughly survived the bombardments that Robotnick had made so long ago. Even after 5 years of abuse, one small spot hid away in the mountains still sustained life. And there it stood, in the middle of the few remaining trees and dry grass, grazed a deer. A normal deer, but in fact the last of its kind, with the other members of its family just died off the previous spring. Now it stood, without a mate to breed with but still the food he needed to survive. All it could do now was survive and wait for the day it died, alone in this small paradise.

The deer dipped it's head down taking in another bite of its daily meal just before it's severed head fell to the floor. The last living deer on the face of planet Mobius died that day.

"Fantastic" Tails said as he sheaved his make-shift sword.

"Tails, you do realise the likely hood of that being the last of its species" Nichole said, her voice no longer a dull monotone sound but with a noticeable degree of annoyance.

"Yeah, probably" Tails said, not really paying attention. "Looks like it'll roast well though" He said happily.

If she had lungs, Nichole would have sighed. Despite his improvements, Tails morals had degenerated drastically over time. That kill for instance was hardly needed with his already heavy stores of food.

Despite all this Nichole still held the belief she had done well, especially considering what had happened over the last 5 years.

Since the day that Tails had dredged through the dark, poisoned tunnels. Wondered past the dead wolfs that littered the paths and the main halls. Not one was alive. This however was not the end of Tails falling hope. After Nichole had convinced Tails to finally move on, after raiding some food from the wolf caves, they moved on. Ever on. That was how it had been, moving from one potential Freedom Fighter base to another, wondering other countries of Mobius. And always finding the same thing. Over Tails travels, Robotnick had truly pushed forward. No other base, small or big had evaded his gaze and each fell. They had visited so many bases on their travels and still yet had Tails to meet a single living being, except the poor creatures he met along the way.

Tails slowly turned the now roasting deer on the stick, as it sizzled over the fire.

"So, Nichole, where to next?" Tails asked

"Well, from my databanks on the king's freedom fighter list, there should be a bunker just north of here. If we make good time we should make it by tomorrow if we don't get side tracked." Nichole replied

"Um, and the chances?" Tails asked as he reached for his sword.

"Actually quite high" Nichole replied, slightly chirpier then before. "If Robotnick did make a big enough ruckus, as we guess he has in this area, then it would be a central location for the Freedom Fighters to meet up and hide out" Nichole continued.

"Fine" Tails replied, not sounded all that bothered as he checked the edge of his sword. "I'm gonna have to get another sword soon. This doesn't look like it'll last much longer. Do they have any weapons at the bunker?"

A long silence came until finally Nichole asked. "Tails, do actually care there could be any Freedom Fighters at the base?"

"Well... there aren't gonna be any, are there" Tails stated matter-a-factly.

"You don't know that" Nichole said, half hearted.

Tails sighed as he put his sword down. "Nichole, 5 years. 5 years of wandering and going from one base to another. You can't really expect me to hold out hope for every single one do you? I mean it's not like I don't know what you're doing" Tails said as he poked the deer to see if it was close to being done.

"All you're trying to do, which I honestly do appreciate is give me hope, which I really don't need. I'm fine with life now. True it's not easy and such but I still get by, thanks to you especially. And though I don't really hold much hope to anyone else being alive, that doesn't mean I don't have goals and such to aim for myself" Tails said, actually smiling at Nichole.

"... how have your dreams been?" Nichole asked, thinking it better to change the subject.

"...once a week" Tails said, as he took down the deer from the fire and let cool.

"They getting any better?" Nichole asked hopefully.

Tails shrugged. "Same as usual. I've gotten used to them to be frank, so don't worry about it. Really, it's fine."

Nichole just accepted his words and let the subject drop. Tails nightmares had been giving him alot of grief over the years and not just over Sonic and Sally, as they used to be. Knothole, his friends, Robotnick, all the terrible things he'd seen on his journey... all seemed to want to attack him when he was most vulnerable. In his dreams. It had only been recently with Tails confidence and attitude getting better had the problem gotten any better.

"The bunker was originally held a large supply of medical equipment. There maybe something there to help you with them" Nichole suggested.

"Yeah, maybe" Tails said as he took a vicious bite out of his deer. He lowered it down just as he remembered something. "Wait, it's Friday today, isn't it?"

Nichole internally cursed. "Yes" She replied irritably.

"Aha!" Tails said as he jumped up, sword in hand.

Nichole just sighed as she activated he holo projection. As she did the appearance of an old man came into life, just in front of Tails. He wore a long white robe with a sword strapped to his side. He appeared to be a lion, but his mane seemed to be withered and grey

Tails grinned happily as he rose his sword and got into stance. 

"Continuing with previous lesson." The lion grow as the hologram increased his natural size to tower above Tails. "It is important to know how to effectively fight against figures much large then you, who hold obvious strength and range advantages." He said as he held out his sword. "Make 10 clear hits to move on"

And just as he finished, Tails shot forward. Holographic sword sparing. All standard for learn Hikando, the royal families sword/fighting style. A fused style of advanced sword fighting with bare hand to hand combat taught to the monarchs of the kingdom. The princess would be excepted to learn a certain level of the hand to hand combat style of Hikando and the king, holder of the Sword of Acorns, to know the sword side of the style. Originally offered by Nichole, as she had been the one to teach Sally how to fight, to boost Tails confidence and so he wouldn't be so vulnerable to the natural dangers he had to face in this new world. Offered just after Tails had recovered from the wolf caves incident, as she found out from reading further into her database on Psychology that a victim such as Tails should have some activity to help focus their efforts and frustration. She had hoped it would take Tails mind off the idea of simply going straight into Robotropolis to kill Robotnick, which he had been planning to do.

So, like before, she made a deal. Tails was too angry and scared to think rationally that day as he ran off into the direction of Robotropolis, so Nichole had to think up something to stop him from killing himself. So she did. She told Tails that with her help, she could make Tails just as strong, if not stronger then Sally. She would put Tails through the same fighting style that Sally had gone through, being the hand to hand combat style of Hikando and the sword side as well. A clever plan to begin with since it was exactly what Tails wanted to hear. A chance to really become stronger and not be held down by his own in-experience at fighting. And also, having agreed to learn the full degree to both sides of the style, he had in-avertedly signed up to at least 20 years of trained. It took Sally nearly 10 years to fully learn just one half, and Nichole knew that Sally was a fast learner.

So on the whole it seemed a good plan. Tails would think he was on the road to becoming the warrior he saw inside his head, and whilst training, Nichole would have all the time in the world to find him a group of real freedom fighters to keep him safe. But that hadn't happened. In all those years Tails hadn't found anyone, and hadn't given up his plans to assassinate Robotnick. Nichole didn't dare stop Tails training or he might not have any reason to keep search and go straight off to Robotropolis on the stop. And worse of all, Nichole had underestimated just how fast a learner Tails was. She knew he was naturally smart, but the degree he soaked up the training Nichole set out was actually scary. He had mastered completely the hand to hand combat style of Hikando and was now onto the beginnings of the sword style. Even with Nichole's restrictions of the amount of training she gave Tails, it didn't seem to slow him down at all.

What was worrying her most of all was Tails condition. Over the years of travelling, one thing did bother Nichole. And it was just now well Tails adapted and managed. It wasn't his natural survival skills which she knew were quite good with Sonic and Sally's training. It was his body that was the worry. On nights when the cold should have left him shivering in a thick sleeping bag, he just happily slept with just his own tails. His muscles and grown, more so then they should have down even as a fox. His canines had gotten sharper and now could be seen outside his mouth like fangs. His fur was much longer than normal as well. Generally his entire physic had changed. Had become more...animal.

Nichole hadn't been worried until just a few months ago when she had consulted her database on Tails changes for any answer. And there had been one answer... and a very troubling one at that.

He was suffering from Animalistic Regression.


	6. Chapter 5

--

_Near Future_

--

In the middle of a secluded ravine, charcoal black trees surrounded a lone figure. His body was completely still, two tails swinging slightly in the breeze and sword held perfectly straight. Tails just stood there, hardly breathing, keeping his breaths low and steady.

The instant a small and quick beep sound emanated from the computer just resting on a nearby rock came, he shot forward , sword still perfectly straight, aimed at one of the trees. An inch before the sword would have made contact with the tree, Tails stopped, all momentum he had seemingly gone. Just as he moved the sword away, he slowly reached out and touched the area the sword came to. A near perfect cylinder of wood came from the other side of the tree as Tails pushed the part through.

"Well?" Tails asked hopefully

There was a few seconds delay before the sound of the old instructor program came to life. "Very good. The strike was performed to high standards. Almost invisible to the naked eye. You are now ready to go up to the final mastery level of-" the voice said before being cut off.

"That will do for today" Nichole said,

Tails sagged as his chance to finally reach the final level of the sword style he was leaning was taken away.

"Come on Nichole, I'm still packed with energy. Can't we atleast start on the first forms for-"

"No. You know the deal, Tails" Nichole replied.

Tails just sighed as he put his sword away and went over to his backpack. Whilst doing so, Nichole contemplated over the past decade. Nearly a full ten years now and things had… not gone to plan. They had traversed every continent, every major island… no one. There was no one alive. Only remains of small encampments which had been crushed long ago. Now Nichole had to come to terms with the real scenario that maybe, they were the only ones left.

So, ten years down the line, here she was. Trying desperately to keep Tails in check and keep to her plans. The problems were though that her plans would eventually require Tails consent. He wouldn't keep aimlessly travelling without reason. He wasn't stupid and probably already knew something was wrong with their destinations. And there in lay the second problem.



…Tails.

He listened to everything to Nichole told him to do without complaint and just kept on moving. And that worried Nichole. No one would be that supportive to you, considering the circumstances. He just accepted everything and kept walking. Nichole knew he was hiding something, just biding his time. And she could guess what for… Robotnick.

With all the secrets they had hiding between each other, they both knew deep down that they would have a confrontation. No… they needed a confrontation, if they were to continue on with their journey.

In any case, the years hadn't been a complete loss. Tails no longer needed help with… anything. His natural endurance and physic aloud him to continue on for days without food and water without much complaint, though he had never had to go long periods without nourishment. It was only his condition that truly worried Nichole.

And as for herself, well, she had in a word… evolved.

Despite limited by her natural voice unit, Nichole could now reply with a good many tones of voice which before she was incapable of doing. Now she could show she was angry, disappointed, happy, cheerful. The emotions she could now feel and display to the world was nearly endless. This was mainly down to her development.

All AIs were capable of doing this, with time and the right environment, depending on their design. Called the Artificial Intelligence Sentience Value, people were able to discern what level of AI there AIs had advanced to. Going from 1-10, one starting at the most primitive of AI systems, barely able to learn, without some aid, all the way to 10. 10 was not actually a proven level, since no AI systems had become advanced enough in the past to reach this hypothetical level. A level when an AIs discovered "self". They were capable of true self awareness, with personalities matching that of a free thinking Mobian/human. A level when it was believed the AI would infact develop a Sole. This theory was met with much controversy, but the basic level setup for AI systems was still widely used in Mobian society.

And now Nichole truly believed she had reached it. With helping Tails deal with such radical and deep emotional trauma, Nichole truly felt whole. But more importantly, she actually felt.

Though despite now reaching a real form a sentience through her experiences with living creatures, Nichole only found it a curse considering you got the whole package of emotions that came with it. And that included depression. She couldn't begin to describe it, but she felt it. She was brimming with it almost everyday now since she had told Tails about his condition. About the hidden gene that was now regressing him. But it wasn't the condition that had worried her, it was his reaction. Though Tails had shown depression and sorrow on the outside for Nichole, telling her he would try and fight it, which was still entirely possible with force of will, she knew he was lying. It was obvious when she told him how his body would be affected and how his eyes seemed to light up. She should have guessed. She had been 

holding him back for so many years. Never letting him learn more then what was just needed. Never letting him work out to what standards he wanted to, using one poor excuse after another. Now all he had to do was let his condition get the better of him and he would have the strength to finally beat Robotnick. Atleast that was how he played it in his mind.

The fact was that the only thing that kept Tails from going straight to Robotropolis was his desperate need to learn. He didn't want to leave things half done and with his training nearing completion after 10 whole years, there wouldn't be anything to hold him back.

"Nichole, how long do you think it will take me to learn the final style?" Tails asked

"On your current learning curve… around 1 month" Nichole replied, answering a question which she should relatively speaking answered 9 months for. That was, for a normal person that it. Which still frightened her.

She had gone through every piece of documentation she had on Mobian psychology in her attempts to help Tails but all seemed useless. He didn't want or (in his mind) need any help.

In her research, she found out that in most cases, when a person loses everything they consolidate. The shift all mental focus on one thing. One pillar to keep them up emotionally. This could either be a family member, friend, a task they feel they should undertake or even something as simple as a habit they have to keep doing. And after all the time she had watched Tails she could guess what his was. His pillar… Robotnick. And that pillar had stagnated in his mind and caused his condition. His regression.

"I'll cut that in half" Tails replied happily, interrupting Nichole's train of thought.

"Was that a pun?" Nichole asked, curiously.

"(Um), no. But you can take it that way" Tails answered, munching down on a ration bar he had in his pack.

The conversation disappeared for a few moments when finally Nichole asked what she hoped to asked Tails for quite a while.

"May I ask, Tails. Why are slightly off our projected course?"

"We're not that far off course are we? Just thought I'd curve around from one side instead of the other" Tails replied, just finishing off the bar.

If Nichole had shoulders they would have sagged. They both knew what this conversation was about. "It also just happens to be just on the edge of Robotropolis"



"Is it?" Tails replied "Well, I guess it would be nice to see if it's changed after all these years"

"Tails... It's still the wrong direction"

Tails just sighed and turned to the screen of Nichole, or more precisely, the small camera she had just above it.

"And may I ask what is the right direction?" Tails asked, visibly angry.

"Is that a philosophic question?" Nichole retorted.

Tails just sighed. He knew this conversation was overdue. Better go on the offensive while I can.

"Nichole. I would like to think I am quite patient. Extremely patient infact. I have allowed you to limit my training. I have listened and stuck by the amount I should physically exert myself to save on food, despite the fact you know I have plenty. I have even stopped running" Tails said, keeping his voice level, but the edge in his voice constant.

"I told you about the speed recor-" Nichole stared

"WHICH ARE INACTIVE!" Tails roared, temper snapping. "Ever one we have found in the last 3 years are all inactive, since have a global network of speed recording devices littered around the planet must take large amounts of energy. Robotnick must know Sonic's not around by now. Hell, he probably has Sonic's body… Anyway, I can deal with that, if you want, but wasting my time going on one wild goose chase after another is reaching my limit."

"What do you mean? Though the chances are low compared with the other facilities, there is still a chance that they might hold-"

"STOP IT!" Tails spat. "Stop it with these useless lies! For a whole year, all the previous bases you've had me check weren't even Freedom Fighter Bases, or stores. Hell, most of them were obviously destroyed before Robotnick's coupe. So stop it. Stop lying to me. We both know what you're doing so stop hiding"

The silence once again descended in the ridge. Never before had Nichole and Tails had such a confrontation and neither wanted it to continue any soon. But secretly both sides had many heated questions that had to be answered, and this was the perfect opportunity.

"OK, yes. I have been trying to slow you down. Stop you from running off and doing something monumentally stupid" Nichole replied, her voice also staying level.

For some reason, having this out and not bottled up made Tails feel better, apart from the insult though.



"Why?" Tails replied, wanting everything out in the open finally.

"Because I would have ended you'd ended up like Sally, instead of Sonic. But I was wrong" Nichole snapped.

Tails was shocked. "I would never expect you to say something like that" he said, his eyes narrowing.

"Maybe so, but it is true. Instead of thinking ahead, all you want to do is rush ahead. So yes I limited you. Tried to keep you from running off. I tried to give you the time to fight it. But that was a waste of time wasn't it" Nichole accused.

"Fight it? I'm fighting it everyday. Each day I feel a bit of my mind go away. That anger won't go away until Robotnick dies"

"No Tails. Your anger won't go away and you haven't been fighting it. Only yourself. You're destroying yourself, little by little. You can't defeat Robotnick. You can't get past his defenses" Nichole retorted.

"So what else is there to do? What is it in that big "to-do" list in your hard drive? Do you really expect me to just live in this waste land? Indefinitely? " Tails asked accusingly.

"… if you must know. Yes. Yes I do." Nichole stated.

"What?" Tails asked, expecting it to be a joke.

"Yes. All the stores you visited were barely raided. If re-do your travels, circling around the planet and few more times, Robotnick will die. Of natural causes" Nichole answered.

"You really expect me to happily continue journeying for another 3-4 decades… and let that monster die of something like a heart attack?!" Tails shouted back.

"What difference does it make? He will die and you will be alive. That's what you want. Does it matter if it's by your hands or not?" Nichole retorted.

"You… YES IT DOES! It would mean he won! What would be left for me afterwards?" Tails snapped back, how standing.

"It doesn't matter. Either you go by my plan, and simply survive, or you rush in to the lion's den. All you have to do is walk within an inch of Robotropolis and a single security camera will be enough to end it all. You will have an entire planet after you. I'm not going to let you take such a risk!" Nichole actually shouting.

Tails walked forward, picking up Nichole and holding her within an inch of his face.

"How long? How long have you had this planned? Since you found out about my condition or before that? At the start. How long have you been leading me in circles!?" Tails roared, shaking Nichole.

Nichole remained silent as Tails fumed.

As Tails anger died down, and he tried to steady his breath, he dropped Nichole. She landed unceremoniously in the dirt.

As the camera on Nichol lay half buried, Nichole could make out Tails form slowly disappearing.

"Where are you going Tails?" Nichole asked

"I'm so tired. This life style is killing me" Tails said, as he picked up his bag and slung it over his shoulders.

Before Nichole could reply, Tails continued "Do you know what it's like. Going from one day to the next knowing you're losing your mind. Knowing one day you might wake up and find yourself thoughts you never thought before. Knowing your mind's like a sand dial, just whittling away with nothing but the passage of time moving it along…"

"But you can fight it. Your condition was created through your mind, you can stop it their-"

"I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT MY REGRESSION!!" Tails shouted, his voice echoing across the valley. "I've been traveling for 10 year and each day I've been wondering why I didn't just kill myself. Honestly, just end it and hopefully join Sonic and Sally if there is an afterlife to speak of. Do you know, one day" Tails said, turning to Nichole. "Not too long ago, I woke up wondering if I had finally cracked. Maybe you didn't survive the explosion and I've just been talking to myself all these years to escape the isolation. Maybe your just the burnt out remains of Nichole that I pried from Sally's burnt corpse and my mind just recreated you for myself… do you know what it's like having those sorts of thoughts going through your head… I can't take it… I need to do this"

As he spoke, he turned away and started walking in the direction of Robotropolis.

"And if you won't help me, as I had vainly hoped… I just do it myself" Tails said.

Before Nichole could shout out, Tails whipped his tails together and shot off like a bullet.

Nichole just lay there, half buried as the wind slowly covered her with more dust. She was scared… she had never felt scared before but the feel crept over her and consumed her… she was alone… completely alone. Was this how Tails thought, she asked herself. Was this what Tails went through each day. ..



She couldn't take it. The feel was dominating her. She wanted Tails. She needed Tails… and then it struck her. She had failed. She had failed in her task. All she had was Tails and now, he didn't need her and despite the fact she should be worrying about him, after all these years of trying to stop him from what he was about to do… all she could do was think about herself. She didn't want Tails for his own sake. She just needed him to be with her.

As those last selfish thoughts went through her mind and as the dust covered the last few clear inches of her camera, she did the one thing she would never have thought you would ever do… she screamed.

_--_

_Distant Future_

--

Tails sat once again inside the giant egg seat which only recently housed Robotnick, his hand supporting his head as he stared at the robot in front of him.

"So, Snively. Let me get this straight. You set out, just ahead of us, to the main data banks, and using that 5 minuet head start, answered my question."Tails replied.

"Affirmative, sir" Snively answered.

There was a heavy silence before Tails turned to Chuck with almost a bemused expression on his face.

" And Robotnick always said he was useless" Tails said, almost mockingly.

"Well it could be true. His robotic mind might have found some answers. That is way you called him back here, to hear him out?" Chuck replied hopefully.

"I came back here because it's the closest place with a decommissioning certain, but aw well. Lets here him out" Tails said, slumping into his chair.

"Report your findings" Tails asked.

"Very good sir." Snively replied. "Taking into account the condition of the planet, the current technological developments so far-"

"Skip to your findings" Tails snapped.

"Very good sir" Snively replied in his monotone voice. "Scenario one: setting every plant on the planet to start development for anti toxins to help stabilize environment"

"Statistics" Chuck asked.

"With current computer systems in place…. Close to none in discovering anti-tozin. But still possible." Snively added

"Continue" Tails replied.

"Start construction of fusion bombs. In about 10 years time, with enough bombs spread about the planet, all bombs being set up would eradicate the up pollutants in the sky and the thin layer of pollution in the soil. With the seas heavily polluted though, marine life will never have a chance to evolve but non-marine life might be produced, at least on the vegetation level." Snively continued.

"Statistics" Chuck said again.

"Again, very low with most water on planet contaminated but from predictive data on the evolutionary scale, 0.56 chance on life developing." Snively finished

"Ok, that's out the window" Tails said, in a rather board tone of voice. "Anything else before your sent for decommissioning?"

"One final scenario sir. You could use the Time Stones" Snively replied.

Silence once again descended on the room before Tails turned to Chuck. "Forget decommissioning. I say we melt him down."

"No, of course!" Chuck replied jumping for joy. "They could be the answer"

Tails gave Chuck a rather pitiful look before replying. "You can't seriously believe in those stones. Those go beyond myth and into children's bedtime stories and cheesy adventure films"

"But they do exist. I should know. Sonic and Sally used them"

Now that certainly shut him up, Chuck noted.

"You're saying they used these stones to go into the past?" Tails asked.

"Yes"



"And what did they change?" Tails asked, with a hint of anger in his voice. "If they went to change the future, then what god forsaken time did they come from to make them choose this?!" Tails said, his arms outstretched.

"They didn't change the past. They couldn't, events changed from what they remembered happening. It took all their effort just to keep things they same as they were, without Robotnick destroying the freedom fighters from the get go"

"Then why didn't Robotnick use them, since he obviously knew?" Tails asked, now accusing Snively .

"The stones are kept on a floating fortress and can only be reached by living individuals. All methods to reach the island by craft ended in failure. Only flying creatures like birds and dragons can reach it." Snively replied.

Chuck turned to Tails. "What do you say? You could reach it if that's all that's needed. What else can we do?"

Tails just shook his head and turned to walk away. Just as he made a few steps, he could feel Chuck's metal fingers press against his shoulder.

"Come on lad. We don't have any better leads."

Tails shot around and slapped Chuck's hand away. "This is bullshit! I'm not going to waste my time chasing after some mythical treasure!"

Chuck stared wide eyed at Tails as he left the room.

Tails walked the corridors of his fortress, eyes staring at the floor. As his feet took him wherever they were going, he could hear the patter of metallic feet on cobblestones.

"Yes. Come to say there's another way we can save everyone by chasing a rainbow and stealing a pot of gold." Tails said sarcastically.

"I don't remember Tails being so sarcastic to his elders" Chuck commented.

"OW, I get it. This is the part where I say something cheesy and dramatic like "Tails died along time ago" or some such rubbish" Tails said, turning around to face chuck. "Well sorry. I am Tails. The only part of Tails that could survive out there and what's left is just a pile of sinicism and contempt, standing in front of you. If that's a problem, deal with it" Tails said, as if the matter was closed.



"I Think I figured it out." Chuck replied in a rather casual voice. "I Thought that maybe you didn't want to go, or more accurately you didn't want to believe me was that you were afraid. Afraid that maybe you'd end up believing and infact hoping for this to success. Hope that could be smashed. But it's not is it. Not entirely anyway."

Tails, now his anger now replaced with mild curiosity continued to listen.

"You're afraid that you'll meet them." Chucked stated evenly.

"Sorry" Tails asked in confusion.

"You're afraid that if this works, you'll meet Sonic and Sally again. And they will see you as Tails, just not the Tails they wanted" Chucked replied, his voice stony.

Tails eyes narrowed as he advanced on Chuck. "Care to run that by me again?"

"It's true isn't it? You're afraid that you'll find Sonic, Sally, all your old family and they'll resent you. Not as a person but as potential. What might their Tails might end up as? Some mistake in the future."

Instantly Chuck was rammed into a wall with Tails holding him but his chest, his eyes flared and snarl on his face. "Don't you dare-"

"What, why not say what's on your mind and have it out in the open. It's so obvious even to me. You hate yourself. What you've become, and think you might be resented by your surrogate family" Chuck said, keeping his voice even.

The look on Tails face obviously displayed anger but certainly not denial and what Chuck had said.

"Why?" Chuck asked.

"Please. I'm the embodiment of everything Sonic and Sally didn't want me to become. It's as plain as the fur on my chest" Tails said flatly, as he lowered Chuck unceremoniously to the floor. "I'm more animal now then Mobian. Given time… even if these Stones existed and we went to the past… in a couple months time I won't be any help to anyone."

Tails turned his back, continuing on his path as Chuck stared and came to a realization. "…Animalistic Regression?" Chuck asked, almost in a whisper.

Tails stopped and nodded, still facing away.

Chuck just stared at Tails with a look of pure sadness plastered over his metal face. "Boy, I'm… I'm sorry. I didn't know"

Tails just shrugged, still not facing him. "I only just found out about it but it's far too down the line for treatment"

Chuck was still in shock. Animalistic Regression… it wasn't a disease as such or a mental disability. It was a deep piece of genetic code that all Mobian's had. Brought on by incredible amount of stress and mental shock, over long periods of time could on rare occasions regress the Mobian, and not just mentally. Their body would change, slowly over time increasing their physical prowess. Their mental behavior however was the real issue. Usually suffers from deep deep depression would start to turn to their animal side. Their mind would slowly start to fill with anger, usually aimed at a certain individual or group, and that anger would slowly monopolies their entire life. But after a while their minds would whittle away and be left to their most primal instincts. They would become in the truest sense of the word, animals.

The condition was very rare however. Only usually brought on by depression but also incredible isolation which in the society they had at that point, during the Acorn reign, could easily be treated . But Tails was in no position to either get such treatment or even know he was suffering from it. Chuck felt foolish not noticing.

"Wait, surely you can get treatment for it now. I know there is a way to deal with it, medically." Chuck assured, hoping there could still be time.

Tails shook his head. "Past the deadline. It can be treated with genome therapy but not this late on. Didn't find out I even had it till just a while ago and then, I was already beyond the help." He faced Chuck again, now a solemn look on his face.

He moved to the wall Chuck was leaning again, and sat down next to him, head resting in his hands. "I did notice the changes. At first, I thought it was just my body's natural reaction to the environments I was in. But Nichole was able to properly diagnose me. She was worried. Afraid I would turn into some wild beast. But all I remember thinking when she told me was… I could get stronger. Not just become naturally strong, but pass my limits. With work I could get into Robotropolis and finally kill Robotnick. I ignored Nichole's worry and attempts to help me and just accepted it. Because of me… I can't let them see me like this" Tails said, now his voice near a whisper, head hidden beneath his knees.

Chuck reached out and slowly patted Tails on the back. "I'm sorry lad."

"They did so much for me Chuck… I can't let them see me… they can't. And what if… whilst there… I change. I'd just become a hindrance…" Tails said, his voice still filled with dread and sorrow.

"You're right. They did so much for you, and for me… please, aren't they worth saving. Aren't they worth any amount of shame you "think" they would bare. And you're wrong. I've known Sonic and Sally for all their lives and I know they would see you just how I see you. A person who survived where everyone 

else on this planet couldn't. Whether by circumstance or not, you took everything that wasteland had to throw at you and you still did what the Freedom Fighters had been trying to do for so many years. Please… help me save them, just one last time" Chuck begged as his grip on Tails shoulder strengthened.

Tails looked up slowly and took something out of his side pouch. The remains of Nichole's case laid in his hands and his thumb gently rubbed against the paneling.

It was only a few hours later as Tails, with chuck stationed below him in a cloth seesaw found themselves traversing the skies in search for the fortress.

"Snively's calculations stipulate that it should be around here, or atleast the giant cloud that surrounds the fortress should be." Chuck called out to Tails.

"So the fact I can't see a damn thing infront of me is a good thing then?" Tails asked

"Well, I've checked with inferred and sonar waves and can't find anything but Snively already said such technical means wouldn't work" Chuck replied as he checked his map.

"Chuck, that's all fine and dandy if we were using a helicopter or hovercraft but I can't keep us suspended forever." Tails called, already slightly tired since he had had to fly all the way out here and with Chuck as a passenger.

"Well, we should be in the midd- LOOK OUT" Chuck suddenly called out.

It was too late as Tails slammed straight into a brick wall, with Chuck following just after. A moment later the two fell and before Tails could get his bearings again and try to take flight, they hit the soft grass below them.

"Well" Tails said as he took off and discarded his goggles, "Unless a mountain popped up after that map was made, this should be it"

Chuck, as he rose took note of the wall they had hit. Perfectly sculptured limestone sinking deep under the earth they had landed on. He traced the wall until he found an entrance. The thick cloud lining made it impossible to see 5 feet infront of you, but as Tails followed Chuck he could just make out the grotesque forms of the gargoyles infront of him.

As Tails moved closer, Chuck grabbed his hand and pulled him back to the entrance. "Sally told me about those. Just trust me, don't touch them."

As they made their way through the darkened rooms with the only light emanating from the entrance, they finally traced their way to the main hall. Neatly light up with conveniently light touches, Tails and Chuck made their way to the centre.

"Well, this has been easy so far. No traps, no falling giant boulders or walls shooting spikes" Tails muttered.

"Well, the only test the traveler is meant to take is apparently a riddle" Chuck said as he traced his hand along the walls.

"well, what do we do, fill in a card or someth-" Before Tails could reply with his sarcastic statement, the wall infront of them exploded with flames as a figure could be seen forming at the center of the inferno.

"**Who seeks to manipulate the strands of time?**" The voice bellowed.

--

_Present_

_--_

Even as Tails sat there, legs and arms crossed, trying to drown it out, he couldn't block the broad booming laughter that seemed to echo across the halls and tunnels beyond. He looked up, a hint of annoyance on his face, desperate to try and scrap some pride back… in vain. As the girls infront of him laughed and giggled, until lack of oxygen made them take a break, Tails just sat there, and hoped there was good reason behind his new colouring… Pink. Dear god why did it have to be pink…

As the laughter finally died down as both Lupe and Amender wiped the tears from their eyes, Tails finally had the chance to ask what he had been hoping to ask since he left the bath.

"What happened" he said flatly.

Amender just grinned as she went over to the jar. "It's OK. I didn't expect perfect results 1st go, though nothing like this" She said, grin almost stretching from ear to ear.

"Why" Tails said, trying to keep his temper in check.

"Well, as I said. This works at the genetic level. The reason why this is so popular is because it brings out colours that your genes have stored in them. Colours that you could have been born with, so the dye isn't infact un-natural." Amander said

"So wait… are you saying I could have been born with pink hair?!" Tails said, shooting up like a rocket.

"Of course, just like how you could have been born a girl. You shouldn't think too much about it. This is all trial and error" Amander said proudly.

As Tails sighed, he noted that Lupe had disappeared. Not long after he thought this he saw her coming back into the room, obviously disappearing into one of the other rooms this small underground home had. He also noted with immeasurable dread the device she had in her hands.

"Take my picture and I take your camera" he threatened, as he bent his legs ready to pounce.

A smug look appeared on her face told him this was inevitable, no matter the threats he threw. "Look, you will have your picture taken. Now you can either smile and make it all seem like a friendly joke, and play along. Or you can sit there like a statue, and make it even more funny"

Tails grit his teeth as Lupe messed with the device and set it on the table infront of them. Amander, already getting the idea, jumped down next to Tails along with Lupe on his other side. Even as they laughed and said "smile" Tails was considering running before the flash. Doing so, when the flash went on left him with a hilarious expression of anger, rigidness and insecurity.

As they laughed when the picture was taken, Amander gave Tails the jug again and told him to simply restart from scratch.

And so it went on, with Tails entering the safety and comfort of the bathroom, and emerging soon later with another colour style.

He had gone from blue, to red, to bright yellow, to black, this was the latest attempt at his departure. As Tails stood before them, Amander actually gave a rather cheeky grin, not one of humiliation but of success. Tails stood before them as the perfect structure and looks of a snow wolf. His coat had gone a lush light grey with his chest, tail tips and facial hair a pure snowy white. Tails actually felt rather happy with this not so vibrant colour. Out of the attempts so far, he did feel natural.

"Well he has the looks, and colour. But last but not least is his coat." Amander said

"What? What's wrong with it" Tails replied defensively.

"Nothings wrong with the colour, but it has to be properly groomed, and guessing from your state when I saw you, I gather you don't know how to do that properly" Amander accused.

"Well… is it necessary?" Tails asked, wondering what was wrong with just leaving it natural.

Lupe shook her head as she went to her draws and took out an elegant comb. "Grooming is an important ceremonial task which we undertake. It will also give me the time to inform you on customs and such whilst you are acting your part."

As Lupe walked to Tails, she noticed Amander giving her an annoyed look. She even pouted. "Any reason why I can't groom him" She asked in a huff.

Lupe smiled. "Tails is going to be posing as my bodyguard. It is best we get into the swing of things" Lupe replied but as she noticed the look on Tails face she added. "It is not uncommon for females to groom the males close to them, such as friends and family. Being my bodyguard would also be expected for such a custom, or atleast that is how it should be down during the time we spend in Knothole preparing for the fights."

"Well, should I learn how to groom you as well?" Tails asked slightly uncomfortable with someone, especially of the female persuasion grooming his coat on a regular basis.

The blush on Amander's face and the giggle coming from Lupe told him he had probably said something stupid.

"Ow dear me no. For a male to groom a female is much closer. Only either parents or lovers would do such a thing. For the opposite side of things, it's much looser. As you can gather it is rather sexist in its nature but that is just how things are done. In any case, could you lay on your back, and Amander, could you tell the Elders we are nearly ready. I hope to set out as soon as possible after the time we wasted here."

With that, Amander grudgingly left leaving Tails and Lupe alone.

As Tails felt for some reason incredibly uncomfortable and… embarrassed at the situation, Lupe just gently guided him to the couch and lay him on his back. As he did Tails was fighting off the most peculiar and powerful of urges. With him in this position and Lupe on top of him, his mind seemed to be wanting him to do something. And unfortunately for Tails, thanks to a certain talk from Nichole of all people, he knew what it was that his body wanted.

For a normal person, such a position would probably be embarrassing but certainly arousing atleast, having a near naked beautiful wolf laying ontop of you, rubbing and combing your body. For a person who hadn't had any contact with women after hitting puberty and having a much closer touch to his "animal instincts" Tails was desperately trying to think about everything but what was happening to him. As soon as she moved to his move sensitive regions, he was desperately focusing on the tribal culture that Lupe was saying with incredible dedication.

It was only when his hormones were playing merry hell with his imagination that he really though he would just pounce her there and then that another wolf came in, saying the group was ready to leave. Tails had never felt so relieved… and also just slightly disappointed.

Soon Tails found himself at the entrance of the underground complex, ready to leave with Lupe and Cilen in toe. Before he left as the doors before him opened, he noticed the elders and Chuck entering to his left from another one of the cavern passages.



"Are you all ready to go?" Chuck asked, directed at all three.

"We have all our equipment which will be needed for the journey" Lupe responded, turning to Cilen for conformation.

As he nodded Tails walked forward to Chuck. "Will you have everything ready at your end by the time we arrive?"

"Yes. I will meet up with my past self and try to help him with getting as much information on the bombs progress as possible. He- well I shouldn't be too hard to convince" Chuck said. "Remember though, keep your identity as much of a secret as possible. If you have to let others in on your purpose to help if necessary so be it but try to keep it to a minimum. Lupe is the main task."

"Won't be a problem. I have no intention on letting anyone know about me. I'll stick with the alias Cable for the moment to save effort" Tails replied, directing the last part to Lupe and Cilen.

"Well, for a nick name that will be fine but you will need a proper wolf name." Lupe suggested.

"Well we'll sort that out on our journey. In any event, Good look Chuck, everyone" Tails said, nodding slightly to Chuck and the elders.

"And to you three as well. You know what is riding on this" One elder said from the front of the crowd.

"It's OK, we do have backup plans in any case" Chuck replied hopefully.

"We will do our clan honor" Lupe said, bowing to the elders, with Cilen following suit.

As Lupe and Cilen gave their final farewells to specific elders, Chuck moved forward and whispered to Tails, "Are you going to be alright lad? Back home?"

Tails just gave a forlorn look before smiling slightly. "I'll keep to myself, it's OK"

As Tails made his way to move, Lupe and Cilen followed suit and gave their final farewells before leaving the main cavern and entering the world outside.

As he saw them go off into the distance, Chuck just shook his head whilst whispering "that's what I'm worried about lad."

--

_Near Future_



--

Through the dust storm, enveloping the area, a figure trudging through the storm could be heard, shouting a name.

"NICHOLE!!" Tails screamed, trying to get his panic stricken voice through the wind. His body swayed from left to right as the winds changed direction in rapid succession.

Tails screams barely reached 10 feet in front of him, and his vision was even worse, as he searched the ground desperately for Nichole. To no avail.

Whatever ground he was standing on before had defiantly been washed back and worth, burying anything to heavy for the wind to pick up. She was gone. He could search for months and not find her. Tails was scared. Beyond scared. He could have lost his one and only companion he had left in the entire world to his stupid childish tantrum. And she had paid the price. It was only halfway to Robotropolis that he realized how stupid he was. So here he was, desperate to ratify his mistake, his fur ruined by the dust and screaming the same name over and over.

As the wind slowly relented, Tails saw the valley as it was. A wasteland. None of the rocks and ridges in the ground he saw before remained, covered by the dust. He shouted her name again, despite his voice being wheezy from the dust. After nearly 30 straight minutes of digging and shouting, Tails sank to his knees.

He had lost her. After all she had done for him, keeping him sane all the years and trying to comfort him, he had discarded her without a second thought… like a animal.

As this sunk in, and true despair like the which he hadn't felt in nearly a decade, he cried. His head face down in the dirt, crying like the 10 year old boy he once was. He had nothing, and had subjected Nichole to a harsh and lonely death.

"no…NO!! NICHOLE!!" Tails screamed, tears still falling, throwing his arms from side to side, sweeping the dirt away around him. "NICHOLE!! PLEASE GOD ANSWER ME!! PLEASE!!...please" he screamed, landing unceremoniously as he did before, arms wrapped around his head.

"please….please….please" Tails kept muttering, desperately trying to deny the situation.

Just as all hope was gone and blown away like the storm, he heard it. Just on the edge of hearing he could just make out a beeping sound. No voice or distinction to it, just a quiet steady beeping sound. Hoping to whatever god was above him that his mind had not finally snapped, he ran desperately to the source. As he moved, on hands and knees, he reached the source of the beeping, or just above it.



He dug his claws into the ground and throw dirt away, desperate to reach the source of the noise. After a few powerful sweeps, the top of Nichole appeared in the small mound he had made. In one motion Tails grabbed it and screamed . "NICHOLE!! Please. Please tell me you're OK!"

There was silence for a few seconds, horrifying Tails as to whether she was damaged in the storm until…

"…Why did you come back?" Nichole asked simply, her normal monotone voice chirping as before.

Tails before sprang for joy and sagged in shame. "I…I… I'm sorry Nichole… please. I didn't mean it. Any of it." He muttered.

"Why did you come back?" Nichole repeated in the same monotone voice.

Tails couldn't stand the shame as he muttered apologies and such, but despite what he thought, Nichole wasn't angry at him.

For the few hours she had been buried, only left with her thoughts to accompany her, did she finally understand Tails. In all the time she had been with him, all she had seen was a mission. Something to assert herself to and hopefully help Tails in the process. But buried there, having lost everything did she finally understand the loss and isolation Tails lived with everyday. It was beyond unbearable. She very nearly wanted to flush her AI chips when it happened, when it struck her. Did she really know what Tails needed? Did she have the right to play mother to a son who she only saw as statistics?

"Because…" Tails finally said, snapping out of his stupor "… because I didn't want to lose you. You're everything to me Nichole. Everything. I don't want to lose you… ever… I'll run"

"What?" Nichole asked.

"I'll run" Tails repeated, small smile adorned on his tear stricken face. "I'll run as far away as you want to. I'll go to whatever corner of the planet you ask and never think about Robotnick again… just please…. Please don't hate me…"

As silence once again descended and Tails thought that his plea had gone to death ears, Nichole finally came to a decision.

"Wherever I want?" She asked

Tails nodded vigorously. "Anywhere."

"…then we're going to Robotropolis"

Yes, I'm not dead. Only tired after exams are over and every disease on the planet sort to strike me down. Anyway, real reason I was out was simply my loss of interest in Sonic generally. But now, after reading up on the new fanfics out whilst I was gone, got me back on the ball. Made this chapter in just over a few days, though don't expect that same speed later, just to tell you I'm sticking with this again and hoping to finish it within a month or so, so here's hoping.

In any case, hope you enjoy and after this, the next chapter will be the last chapter with 3 timelines. After that there will only be the "Present" time line remaining so that will speed up hopefully.

Hope you enjoy and please review. Will be nice to hear from people again.


	7. Chapter 6

_Near Future_

--

Tails trudged through the undead city of Robotropolis, his mind wondering back and forth between his adrenaline pumping situation and Nichole. What had caused this sudden change? Not that he was complaining... or should complain. This was what he wanted. Robotnick dead ahead with Nichole at his side. That was what he had been hoping for these many years... wasn't it?

No. No time to regret. Especially now. Even in the dead of night and the seemingly none existent security, he couldn't relax. He had heard the odd SWAT-Bot passing every so often but if a single one of those metal monsters captured a look at him, the entire city would be on high alert. He had one advantage and was not about to let it go now. But as he was desperately trying to stay in the shadows, he couldn't stop thinking about Nichole. This went on so long till finally he couldn't take it anymore and secluded himself into a darkened street near some old rusted dumpsters and confronted her.

"Nichole... Why... Why did you change your mind? Was it because..." Tails didn't finish as the shame of his previous actions caught up with him.

"It wasn't because of that Tails" Nichole replied. "...But being alone did let me think for a while... I don't know if this is the best way to help you but... I do think we owe it to the others to finish this finally"

Tails didn't completely buy it but guessed he shouldn't push the matter. "So, any plans?"

"Yes actually. After a decade of bloating, Robotnick hasn't bothered to re-enforce his security in years. This was the one opportunity that Sally had been waiting for whilst she was alive. Small time hit and run assaults can only sting and annoy for so long until a moment appears to make a single and decisive move. That is the true meaning of Guerrilla warfare."

Tails nodded. He had heard this description before. "Why use a thousand fools ready to die in one valorous push over one highly skilled assassin."

If Nichole had a head she would have nodded. The assassination of Robotnick had been the major goal all along with the Freedom Fighter's struggle. In a normal wartime situation where if the head of one faction was killed, all this would do would create some confusion before a new leader stepped forward. Robotnick however truly was the only real target that needed to be taken down for his empire to fall, not counting Snively.

"OK, but still... from what I remember, despite the SWAT-Bot patrols that might be around, the main fortress has cameras covering every corner and furrow. I can get in but getting to Robotnick might be-"

"No." Nichole cut in. "Though you have the skills and abilities to get through most of the security, not only is there still a chance you might fail, a chance I am not willing to take. But also, if you do kill Robotnick now, you will still have his empire after you. I have no doubt now that most of the systems are automated. You will be chased. That isn't the way."

"Then what should we do?" Tails asked, turning from side to side for any nearby SWAT-Bots.

"...We use the main terminal" Nichole replied flatly.

"Terminal? What terminal?" Tails asked

"The empire that Robotnick is using, though altered, is still just the same systems and structures that Mobotropolis used. The system he uses to control the SWAT-Bots and factories is the same as before the take over. And because of this, the Main Servers and Terminal should still be at the heart of his empire."

Tails just gave Nichole a questioning look. Now that was too good to be true. A convenient weak point in Robotnick's system which had never been exploited before. It didn't sound logical.

"And why did Sonic and Sally never go after it?" Tails asked.

"Destroying the facility would be redundant. The file servers are backed up and the terminal is just a computer linked to them. What we plan to do instead is do what Robotnick did all those years ago and change the privileges of the system. I'll effectively make you the administrator for Robotnick's entire empire and lock him out." Nichole explained.

Despite how appealing that sounded, that didn't answer his question. "My question still stands. Why didn't Sally do this? This is obviously something you didn't find out on our travels, so what stopped Sally from doing it back then?"

"The only way to access the data and modify it and then broadcast it to all computers city wide is through the terminal. There are two major forms of security preventing illegal access. One is a simple password protection, but the other is far more dangerous. If this security system detects any form of illegal infiltration, then the Terminal is disconnected to the network and the severs are flushed. The only way to access the terminal is through an external device, which in this case is me. If the second security system detects me, it will also fry my systems. "

"WHAT?!" Tails shouted but quickly covered his mouth before violently whispering "I'm not going to risk that. And what difference does it make now?"

"Back then, security was constantly tight around the facility. Constant patrols would be present at all times. And if even one SWAT-Bot detected any signs of infiltration, the terminal and severs would be destroyed. Now however security is probably much lighter and now I should be able to hack into the system before the secondary system detects me"

Now that did surprise Tails. "Why would you be able to hack the system now? You haven't upgraded you hacking software, atleast as far as I know"

"The art of hacking isn't just loading different programs and letting them do their work. You need initiative. Before, it was Sally who was the one to use me so she could infiltrate systems but the terminals security was too airtight. But now that I have... developed, and acquired my own ability to... think on my feet, as it were, I can perform the task"

Tails still didn't look convinced but still allowed himself to be directed by Nichole. Whilst he was moving, still staying in the shadows as much as possible, the churning sound of the city keeping him on his toes.

To his surprise, he found himself circling around the entire city with the main fortress which housed Robotnick at the centre. He imagined something that important would have been moved to the most secure area in the city, maybe even the world. But as it turned out, as Tails weaved through the back alleys and occasionally leapt the darkened roof tops, that this master computer was right out on the edge of the city. It was on the opposite side to the one facing the great forest but still, it hardly seemed intelligent, especially when Tails was lead inside the seemingly deserted warehouse left to rot on the end of a desolate construction yard.

Inside was nothing more than a collection of old mouldy boxes, cobwebs and rusted equipment.

"Low and behold the nerve centre of Robotnick's empire" Tails muttered sarcastically down to Nichole. But just as he expected her to retort or defend herself, instead a thin blue beam of light shot out of the head of her display, striking a random section of floor. Just as Tails was going to ask what she was doing, a giant section of floor, part of which Tails was standing on, rose from the ground.

Dust flowed off the top as the section of floor rumbled to life and rose above Tails. Finally as the block pulled itself up at its full height of 6 feet tall, Tails could make out details on the surface facing him. Though the top was concrete with the brown tinges of times littering it's surface, the panel facing him was pristine white, new age material so polished he could see himself. Just as Tails was again about to ask Nichole on what was in front of him, the surface facing him slide apart revealing what looked like...

"An elevator?" Tails asked

"Indeed" Nichole replied. "Could you enter?"

Tails dumbly nodded as he stepped forward, stepping inside the brightly lit tube. Though there weren't any buttons, the second the tips of his tails followed inside with him, the doors shut and he could already feel the lift shoot downwards.

Tails was in shock. This couldn't be real. This couldn't be this easy, Tails said as all forms of stealth had disappeared as he casually walked through the empty white hallways. Well, empty wasn't quite the word. There were still SWAT-Bots, just all of them lying like puppets with their strings cut on the floor. There was no security. None. Robotnick's most closely guarded secret left to rot in some corner of his empire. Whatever trust Tails had given back to Nichole was slowly disappearing as the possibility of him just being led around in circles entered his imagination.

"Nichole... why- No scratch that. How am I walking through this facility? How has such a security system been left to die?"

"All robots have a natural life span Tails. The parts the makeup SWAT-Bots don't go on indefinably. They need constant servicing to stay operational. The usually life span of a SWAT-Bot with no maintenance would be 4 years. Robotnick, if not 3 years after he firebombed the planet, defiantly felt safe from possible survivors. This place has just been left, forgotten. After seeing the state of the city, I had littler doubt that there would be no problems reaching our destination, unopposed" Nichole replied

"And what if the bots had been maintained?" Tails asked, mostly out of curiosity.

"I'm sure you could have managed" Nichole chirped, genially playfully.

Tails smiled as the tense atmosphere he had been feeling dissipated a little. But still he couldn't help feeling tense, even scared. Everything had been going well... too well. Nothing went this smoothly. Not on one of the missions Sally had lead and talked about. There was always something random that went wrong which they had to improvise for. It seemed an unwritten law whenever one took a mission of such importance. So, if anything bad was going to happen, it would happen soon... and he didn't know if he could handle it. He may have been training for so many long years, but there was no denying that this was the 1st active mission of sorts he had been on. He had the skills, but absolutely no experience, and it was experience that allowed you to think on your feet.

As the finally corridor, with on lone SWAT-Bot slumped in the corner, was passed, Tails entered the finally section of the complex. The sever room. It was big. No... such a word did it nojustice. It was gigantic. A perfect cylinder shape for the circular walls with the ceiling towering above Tails span a gigantic fan with a vent the size of the room continuing on beyond Tails sight. The fan obviously for the cooling needed for the many pylon like file servers littered around the room.

Tails looked around meekly, half expecting Robotnick and a platoon of SWAT-Bots to come out and shout "Boo". But no. Like the rest of the facility, this room lay lifeless. Tails hesitantly stepped forward towards the small but somehow imposing centre console, each step lightly echoing around the room before being drowned out by the fan above. Tails noticed his breathing had risen, the feeling of hyperventilating upon him. Why? All he had to do was plug Nichole in, leave it in her hands and there he had it. The kingdom was his. Simple as that...

...did a single word that Tails said to himself actually sound believable?

Something was going to happen. Tails knew it. Somewhere at the bottom of his stomach, he knew it.

"Tails" Nichole spoke. "Do you see a port on the computer?"

Tails, upon reaching the terminal, looked frantically around. The computer was littered with buttons. It didn't have a standard keyboard. Infact all the keys were littered around in what Tails could only tell was a random assortment. Everything about the system seemed bespoke. Nothing seemed to go by 

what standards Tails had gotten used to. This only proven when he finally found a port but the shape was one he had never seen before. Still square shape but different from any normal port he had seen. The usually UC (Universal Connector), being the most common standard port that both humans and Mobians used was nowhere to be seen.

"Nichole. All there is is a strange port here."

"Yes. It was made especially for this computer. No other electronic device uses such a data link" Nichole replied

"Is there an adapter that could be lying around somewhere?" Tails asked, looking around in hopes to see a discarded box of computer parts or something along those lines.

"Tails" Nichole called. Tails looked down at Nichole expectantly. "Take a hold of the bottom of me, on the very tip"

Tails brow furrowed in confusion, but complied. "Now pull" Nichole asked. Again Tails obeyed but was surprised to see a few centimetres of the bottom of Nichole came away. Looking to see it was just a hollow plastic cover with a connector inside, Tails stared at what remained of Nichole. Now where once was a standard UC was instead the very port for the computer in front of him.

"If you plug me in Tails I can-" Nichole started

"No, wait. What's going on. You just said the port was bespoke. Only made for this computer. Why AS STANDARD do you have the connector part of you" Tails asked, not a little angry at such obvious deceit.

There was silence around them except the rhythmic turning of the fan above. The silence was broken finally as Nichole spoke.

"Tails, do you know why I know what I know? Why I have information of the upmost security on may hard drives?" Nichole asked.

"Sally told me you belonged to her father" Tails answered.

"No. Well, yes actually but not the way she guessed." Nichole responded. "When she found me, only 10 years old in one of the old offices of Sir Charles, I did tell her I was the kings and ergo her property. But I was not what she thought me as. Her father's personal PDA. I was his key. The key to this system"

"Wait" Tails called out. "You were designed to operate this place?"

"In a manor or speaking yes. I was designed by Sir Charles to act as the final key to the information on these's servers. For security reasons I could only operate for either the King/Queen or the Minister of science." Nichole replied and ended with a bitterly quite voice.

As Tails tried to understand the reason behind the tone of her voice, it suddenly came to him. "Robotnick was made Minister of Science just before the coupe."

It was then that Nichole was welcomed with the familiar feeling of shame. "Yes. As soon as he received the appointment, just after Sir Charles retired, he took me here, gave him full access to the system and was discarded after his invasion was complete."

Tails just stared as he tried to understand what she had confessed. "But... why can't you just access the computer then? You have the clearance right? You're the... key, right?"

"No, I am locked out. He changed the clearance and back then I knew, as I said before, I could not force my way into the system to undo his changes. The security systems put in place were personally designed by Charles."

As Nichole finished, Tails was left with a bitter taste in his mouth. Why hadn't he known or asked such a question whilst he travelled with Nichole all those years. Not once asking where she had come from. Looked back, it seemed such an obvious question to ask, just one that hadn't seemed needed at the time.

"Well... I'm glad I know" Tails said finally as he smiled down at Nichole. It had been a short and imposing confession she had made but it generally made Tails feel better.

"OK... Tails?" Nichole replied

"Yeah?" Tails asked

"Nothing" She shot back quickly. "Just plug me in and I'll start.

"OK, Good luck" He said as he hovered her just above the port.

There was a length silence until she finally said as she was placed and plugged in. "to you to"

Before Tails could wonder about Nichole's strange reply, a flashed and explosive sound erupted in front of him as he was thrown back. As he stared forward as the smoke that had suddenly erupted around the terminal, he could see Nichole, panels mostly melted, screen mostly black and sparks shooting bellow her.

Just as Tails was about to shoot forward to rescue her, he could just make out on the almost charcoal screen, "and Thank You" before Nichole exploded infront of him.

--

_**Distant Future**_

--

Chuck stared at the giant owl's head infront of him, lost for words as he tried to think of some respectable away of greeting him. Before he could introduce himself however, the owl spoke first.

"_**Why have you come?" **_his booming voice echoed.

"Um, to change time?" Chuck replied flatly. No point in lying at this point.

"_**A dangerous task. And difficult if what you mean to change is what has most troubled you. Using the stones to save even one person's life is a challenge, but you plan to save them all. All life that has left this poor misused planet**_" The owl replied.

"Well, yes. That's the plan" Chuck weakly spoke out.

"_**Well, such an expedition is not for me to decide**_" the owl answered.

"What, but why-" Chuck spoke until he noticed he was making this entire conversation by himself. He turned and looked around for Tails but found no signed of him. "TAILS! TAILS" he yelled out. "What has happened to my friend?".

The owls eyes, which had been blindly staring ahead finally focused on chuck. **"**_**He is arguing your case to a higher authority. You will have to wait for my master's decision."**_

"...OK" Tails just spoke out randomly, as he surveyed his surroundings. One moment he had found himself in that dimly lit cavern, and one moment later, he's now trudging through the desert. No sun in the sky but still no lack of light to show him the vast dunes that lay ahead of him on all sides. What surprised him was what was above him, where most of the sky should be. There was nothing but a giant black circle, maybe 10 miles above, spanning probably hundreds and hundreds of miles, taking up most of the horizon. What part of the sky he could see past the circle had clouds in it? So maybe he was on some part of the floating fortress still, still suspended in the sky. Another thing however that was bugging him was how the clouds looked. They seemed distorted. The curved downwards towards the horizon, all of them seemed stretched. What the hell was going on, he thought. Was he already back in time? But when? He hadn't even specified a date and if he had gone back to when he wanted to, where in god's name was he!?

Just as Tails was losing his patience and was about to shoot forward in hopes of reaching a possible edge, a pure white light erupted from the centre of the circle above. Tails made the stupid mistake of looking up but regretted it immediately as he thrust his head forwards into the sand with his hands covering his eyes. It was brighter then the sun and whatever was coursing the light was slowly descending. Tails could just make out some vague shape in the light through his fingers as it made its way to ground level.

The light erupted once more, coursing Tails to flinch before all was back to as it was. Tails finally rose his head when he couldn't see the light through his eyelids and looked forward.

He gaped. There, infront of him stood the largest owl he had ever seen. It's body had taken up most of Tails vision as it stood, it's head appearing to just scrape the giant circular top hanging in the sky. Tails gaped at how such a thing could possibly exist but gathered that since he was dealing with mystical rubbish like the time stones, he should probably not bother second guessing things.

Just as Tails wondered if there was any where in this isolated desert he could hide, its gigantic eyes stared down at him. The owl bent down. This simple process though still frightened the hell out of Tails. He could hear the rumbling as the owl's massive body shifted, see most of the desert around and behind him become shadowed. And as the owls face came closer and closer and closer, the true scale of just how large this creature was only just fully dawned on Tails as the breath from its beak was generally causing a sand storm and burying Tails.

And as the Owl finished and his face took up, in Tails eyes, the sky, it finally spoke.

"Hello" He said cheerfully, in a loud booming voice, once again burying Tails in the shifting sands.

"Um" Tails said, as he pushed the sand out of his fur. "Um, HI!" Tails shouted, hoping the creature before him could make out his tiny voice.

"It's good to finally see you, I'm-" The owl began with a small adorned on his face before he heard the yelling from Tails as he saw the desert literally rip apart and cave in on itself with Tails in the middle.

"Aw" The Owl muttered as he understood Tails startled yells.

Just as Tails swam out the sand once again, his eyes were met with a immensely bright light before he could see... the sky? He looked around and all traces of the owl apart of two staggering talon prints taking up most of the desert and crushing most of the sand dunes he saw just before.

As Tails was about to try and raise himself from the sand still up to his waist, a hand shaped wing was offered infront of him. He looked up to its owner and saw then owl once again, this time normal Mobian sized, still with his pleasant smile on his face. Now able to make out features and details instead of scale Tails could see the owl was obviously, atleast from the look of his feathery coat, a basic barnyard Mobians owl, with lush brown plumage. He had a tiny set of spectacles on the edge of his beak and wore a simple white robe.

"I am sorry about that" the owl spoke, he voice no longer causing Tail's ears to bleed. Instead it just sounded like the friendly booming voice of an elderly gentleman. That atleast gave Tails a general idea of the age the owl wanted to appear as. He could already tell, whoever was infront of him had fare more than just 60 or so years of the world.

"Um, no problem" Tails said, taking the hand and raising himself fully from the sand.

"Hardly." The owl replied in a rather annoyed voice. "I do so hate make "flashy" entrances but I am expected. In any case. I am glad to finally meet you Tails"

"Yeah, likewise, mister...?" Tails asked hoping to get some insight as to who stood before him and had almost drowned him with sand.

"No formalities please. My name is Tempest. I am the god of time" He said simply before huffing slightly. "God. Truly hate that word. Far too ostentatious, in my opinion."

"It is?" Tails asked, not really sure how to address a "God".

"Ow yes. I'm hardly all-knowing or all-powerful or any of that rubbish." Tempest replied, his mood obvious from how his feathers struck out. "Just because I have an important position doesn't change the fact that that is all it is. A job. All I am is a caretaker really so having such grand titles as well don't seem at all necessary"

Tails just nodded dumbly. Tempest picked up on this and ended his miniature rant. "I am sorry. Just something that get's my feathers in a knot" Tempest looked around and back at Tails with a smile. "Do you like it here?"

"Um, abit hot" Tails answered.

The grin on Tempests face only grow however as he leaned forward. "Do you know where we are?"

"What?" Tails asked, surprised at the question

"Go on. Have a guess" Tempest asked playfully.

"Ok..." Tails looked around. There weren't many deserts he knew about and to be frank it could be any of them. There was however the matter of the giant black circle above and the way the horizon seemed to bend near the bottom, all around him. Nowhere on Mobius could he think of such a place. So why did he ask him such a question-...wait.

Tails did a double back and looked around again. And again. Until it hit him.

"...We're in an hourglass, aren't we" Tails answered

"HA, YES! Haha. Finally someone guessed it. Once you look at it outside the box, it's quite obvious but no one has been able to guess it before. And I have met quite a few time travellers in my time." He noted the blank look on Tails face.

He chuckled. "Sorry. Just my dry sense of humour. I do love puzzles and such. In any case, I have been waiting quite some time for you Tails."

"Um, eternity?" Tails asked

"Ow dear me no. I have no barely any patients to wait that long. If that were the case I would have just whisked you hear sooner." Tempest replied happily, his good mood back again in full

stride.

"The keeper of time has no patients?" Asked Tails, bemused at the irony.

Tempest chuckled. "None what so ever. That is what being the caretaker of time is about. You don't have to wait. Anything you are waiting to happen you can just go straight to it. And back again. For you Mobians you enjoy watching reruns of old movies to keep you entertained. I myself keep going back to major events in history just for entertainment. Do you know I've watched the fight between Sir Harrold, the champion of the acorn knighthood and Yagoth the evil snake sorcerer, an event that occurred nearly 700 years ago, 34 times?"

Tempest once again noticed the direction the conversation was going in. "Once again, I'm sorry. We don't seem to be getting far, but I'm afraid real life events constitutes television for me. Soap operas, crime stories, action adventures can all be found in many courses of history. Watching the lives of certain individuals can be most entertaining."

"What would you categorise mine as" Tails replied sourly.

Tempest's brow furrowed. "I never liked tragedies. I am very sorry, if that is of any consolation"

"Not a musical then" Tails lightly joked.

A small smile appeared on Tempest's face but just as quickly disappeared. "I believe we should talk about the here and now"

Tails nodded.

"You want to go back in time" Tempest explained.

Tails nodded.

"And change previous events..."

Tails nodded

"To save the world" Tempest finished.

Tails nodded once more.

Tempest grinned. "Very good" He concluded.

"Now, there are rules, tests and such but really... this is a special case" Tempest explained, his expression saddening.

"Now so?" Tails asked.

"Well... how to explain...?" Tempest asked himself. "Well...you are aware of the expression, time is like a river?"

"Ofcourse" Tails replied.

"Well, it mostly describes how events can change and so on and how a river can split into different futures depending on you. That's mostly what it is an analogy for." Tempest explained.

Tails nodded.

"Well, actually it's also, whether intended by its creator, a good comparison to one other similarity they share" Tempest explained.

"Which is?" Tails asked

"Banks. The banks of a river." Tempest answered.

Noting the confused expression on Tails face, Tempest came up with an example. "Let us say you wish to go back in time so that on Tuesday, 5 years ago, you buy an ice cream instead of a hotdog in daytime. So, yes. Easily done with barely any effort, BECAUSE there are no major ramifications. Or if there were, time would set them straight"

Before Tails could asked about how time setting events straight, Tempest continued "But if you wanted to go back and stop a major event for example which would affect many many lives, like trying to stop the 2nd Great War between Mobians and Humans, time would try and stop you."

"Time? I thought you were time?" Tails asked.

"Just the caretaker, not the embodiment. Time isn't a conscious being, more a force. When certain events happen, time desperately tries to keep them there. So, like for your friends that tried to use the Time Stones all those years ago, my subordinate happily passed them over. And when they started messing with time, time effectively messed back. Events changed and events happened faster than they did in their memories so even with all the changes they made, the takeover still took place. Like trying to swim against the river, the tide usually wins and the banks of the river stop the water from flowing in a different direction."

Tails looked shattered. "What? So I won't be able to stop what happened?" He said, looking heartbroken.

"That would be the usual case, but as I said, this is a special situation... for better or for worse." Tempest added.

"What? So will time not fight against me?" Tails asked.

"Ow yes it will. If you went back and tried to just stop Robotnick normally, then what happened will still happen. Maybe the only difference would be that Robotnick dies before the missiles are launched. There is however one major difference." Tempest explained.

"Which is?" Tails asked hopefully.

Tempest smiled proudly. "Me. I will be helping you."

"Why? Are you even allowed?" Tails asked, unaware of what boundaries the time keeper had on him.

"I have certain privileges. The main reason is that, what happened shouldn't have happened." Tempest explained simply.

"You should have, in a years' time after that, beaten Robotnick and reclaimed your freedom. A year after that the De-Roboticizor is made and the planet finally starts running again. But this random timeline just well..." an embarrassed look appeared on Tempest's face. "...snuck up on me"

Tempest sighed as he stared back at Tails. "When I realized what had happened it was already at the point of no return. I can't directly change time when it's flow becomes too strong. Usually all I'm aloud to do is suggest. Suggest that someone stays at home instead of goes to the park. Suggests that they actually don't feel like having dinner with a friend of theirs. You know. Little things."

"So when it happened all you could do was watch" Tails replied, offering a slightly sympathetic shoulder effectively.

"Well...no. There was one thing I could do before everything went wrong." Tempest again looked unnerved, shifting his weight from one talon to the other. "When the missiles were launched, I desperately tried to search for all possible timelines. Trying to find the best case with whoever I could save, if I could... and yours came up the best"

Tails eyes widened as what he heard sunk in. He helped me? When?... then the memory came back.

Noting the realization on Tails face, Tempest continued. "Yes. Why you would randomly jump into the Ring pool, without any major reason... I saw the future of what you could manage if you survived. It was a bleak and lonely one but... I had no choice. I knew you would come to me eventually."

Tails just remained silent. It did make some sense in a way. He had never questioned it but the little suggestion to dive into the pool did seem... foreign. Was this the part he bitched at Tempest for effectively ruining his life, despite saving it? Before, he would have been happy to, but now... he really didn't care.

"So, what can you do?" Tails asked again.

"Well, I have isolated the cause and etched in a different path for time to flow in but certain events have to take place." Tempest explained.

"Which are?" Tails asked eagerly.

"For starters Lupe, as you know her, has survive her ordeal with her revolting subordinates. My subordinate is actually informing Chuck at this moment" Tempest continued.

"Ok, and then?" Tails asked.

"Then only two more events must take place. The Blood Claw pack most NOT win the Alpha Tournament" Noticing the confused look on Tails face added. "Again, is being explained to your friend. And finally, after that may you make a small unit to strike on Robotnick. No more than 5 men. If you meet those criteria, your past will be saved"

"OK, well. I'm sure with a good plan we can manage" Tails replied hopefully. But the grim look on Tempest's face told him more. "There's something else isn't there"

"Indeed. And something far worse than anything I have explained... If you do change the past and the times do shift... you will be left behind and disappear." Tempest answered quietly.

"What! Why? What about Chuck? Will he be OK?!" Tails shouted.

"Sir Charles will be fine... the problem lies only with you" Noting the look on Tails face he continued. "When your friends from before used the stones, when they returned, they could return. They fit, so to speak. Their mind, personality, even soul were barely different from the people they grew up as in the new timeline. The same for Sir Charles. He will just wake up in his body, 10 years after the event... but you won't... can't."

Slowly and with horrible realisation, Tails believed he understood. "Is it because of my-"

"Not you condition but partly... the Tails I foresee in this new future will hold no similarities with you at the moment. He is mature, upbeat, friendly, charming and many more worth while qualities... but you..." Tempest just shook his head. "To be so frank, you are dry, pessimistic, hollow... your very soul is tainted with rage and sorrow. None of which could fit in the heart of the other Tails. So when the times change... you will not die. You will cease to exist.

Tails head dropped. The silence descended on the two before Tails finally replied. "When do I begin?"

Tempests head turned a full 90 degrees with his expression showing curiosity. "Why might I ask are you so ready to throw away your soul? You do know the ramifications, you understand."

"Yes." Tails replied flatly. "If anything it's kind of a relief. I was afraid if I went back, even if I managed to save my friends I would just turn into some raging animal... I can't stand that. I really couldn't stand that. To have my friends look at me like some wild mongrel. So, if what you say is right, I get to play the hero for a while and in my place will be a better... me. Sounds like a fair deal."

Tempest just shook his head sadly. "Then I truly wish you good luck on you travels, young Tails... however they may end."

Just as Tails was about to reply, he noticed the sand beneath him sinking... rapidly. An entire section of desert was sinking in a giant cone shape with Tails falling along with it. Falling through the hourglass... how typical. Just as he was reaching the middle of the giant whirlpool, Tempest spoke calmly, hovering in mid air. "Your friend will have arrived some days before you to sort everything out for you when you arrive. You tasks, in detail will be near you when you land."

Tails could just make out the last of what Tempest said before his body was sucked through the hole and he plunged into darkness.

"Maybe you will learn just how much you can still lose, Miles, but all the same, God speed."

The darkness that enveloped Tails just seemed to last for a few seconds before, with a large _thud_, he landed. He looked around instantly to his surroundings. He appeared to be surrounded by rocks and trees, but it was too dark to make out any features, with his eyes just recently adjusted to the bright light of the desert.

Just as he scrounged around for anything of interest, his hand fell up a small leather bag to his right. He grabbed in instantly and opened it. Inside he found a torch, a note, a flask, some string, a stone in the shape of half a mask, which he guessed was his half of the Time Stone and to his surprise... Nichole, or her remains anyway. Also tied to the back of the bag was his old sword. He took the torch and shined it on the letter.

_Dear Tails._

_ You should be near the edge of a ridge near the southern side of the Great Forest. Go to the ridge after you have finished this noted and you should see the encampment in which Lupe is staying in. I hardly know the details myself but apparently a few of her pack members will turn on her on her next mission so for now you have to get in contact with that group and sniff out the traitors. Go under an alias and use the string to tie your tails together. Drink if you are thirsty but don't take anything with you except maybe your sword, the Time Stone and Nichole when you meet them. The less cargo you take the better. After that..._

And so on the letter went with the current situation, what to do what how to do it. Apparently the letter, written by Chuck had a few plans laid out of possible ways of sneaking into Knothole. One in particular about him pretending to be a wolf himself seemed to be the most far fetched and the ways in which to do it even more ridiculous. But he would talk to Chuck later on what to do. For now he had to find that ridge.

So off he went in the rough direction the note told him to go, flask in one hand and blade in the other. Greedily taking down the water and discarding the flask seconds later, he made it to the ridge.

...My god, Tails thought as he stared out. The forest. The on-going beautiful forest, stretching before his eyes. Above him, shining in the sky was the full moon in all it's glory and the stars littered around it's glow. The sky, the forest... the grass... THE AIR. All of it... just as it was.

As Tails breathed in air he never thought could be so clean and wrapped his hands in the cool and soft grass, he fell to his knees. Tears slowly fell from his face as he laughed out towards the forest, never before feeling so truly happy. He may not be able to enjoy for long, if what Tempest said was true, but for now, it was his. This one beautiful moment, where he could really believe... he could do it.

--

_Present._

--

The journey to Knothole had been mainly uneventful. All that occurred really was Lupe trying to force as much procedure and protocol into Tails head. It had already been made clear that he wouldn't need to know all of the wolf culture since his alias was a random villager that had just joined the wolf pack, ignorant but helpful. Those two aspects usually made the best personality traits when pretending not to be you.

But Tails did have to learn most of the manners he would have to adhere to, atleast when in the company of the other 3 leaders. But to Lupe's satisfaction, Tails absorbed it all... despite looking like he was day dreaming the whole walk, with his head always in the clouds.

It was Cilen that finally asked what both himself and Lupe had been meaning to ask for so long.

"Why have you kept your eyes on every passing tree and cloud since our journey, friend?" he asked.

Tails kept his eyes upwards, still planted on the sky above. "For the past decade all I have had to look at above is a black and polluted sky. The sun could barely breach the cloud line at the start. Later on it disappeared altogether. Same for the trees and grass alike. All plant life is mostly gone in the future. Barely a weed in what was a hundred acre woodland."

Cilen accepted the answer without any further questioning. Who was he to understand such a lifestyle. Hopefully if they succeeded, he wouldn't have to.

Just as the journey turned to silence once again, out of the corner of his eye, Tails caught sight of a multicoloured butterfly shooting out of the forest and directly towards him. Before he even tried to shoo it away, it fluttered around his face and landed neatly on his nose. The rather blank but mildly irritated expression on his face was truly priceless. Lupe broke out in giggles upon seeing Tails situation and Cilen tried to hold back a laugh. Tails just sighed at the two and tried to shoo the butterfly away. It shot off his nose and launched itself into the aware, letting the wind take it as it pleased.

"We should be getting close. That type of butterfly only exists just south of Knothole. Considering the direction we came from. We should be there in..." Tails voice dropped as sentry stopped being random trees and assorted rocks and started making sense to him. He remembered this area. Just east of her was a good open area which he used to play dirt hockey in, so that means...

Tails shot off the path before Lupe and Cilen could complain and went straight into the undergrowth. A flicked planets and tree branches out of his face as he went through the thick foliage. Lupe and Cilen called out just behind Tails, as they followed him begrudgingly. Before he even bothered answering any of their questions, the trees stopped and he was infront of a log. A very familiar log.

Lupe, who had been to Knothole before also recognised one of the secret entrances to the hidden village. "A nice little short cut "Cable", but could you give us warning next time."

Tails just nodded as his hand moved over the strangely shaped trunk. That familiar urge of anxiety came upon him. He didn't know if he could do it. Take the final step and see... them again. But before he could contemplate and bring up his cowage to descend the shoot, Lupe and Cilen shot down before him. He just sighed and rested his hands on either side of the hole.

--

_Near future_

--

Tails looked franticly at the shrapnel that once was Nichole. She littered the floor with parts of her panel, with the most of her still in one piece attached to the computer.

"No..." Tails muttered as he crawled forwards. He took Nichole out of her slot and looked for any signs of life. "No...No, No!NO!NO!NO!" HE screamed shaking Nichole was each outburst.

"NICHOLE! PLEASE! CAN YOU HEAR ME!? NICHOLE!!" Tails screamed at the remains of the computer.

He fell to his knees as he stared at her remains. "Please no... god no, don't let her.. Nichole. Please answer me... please" He whispered as tears descended his cheeks. "please" He kept repeating.

A full 5 minutes passed as Tails rocked back and forth, Nichole resting in his hand, repeating that one word. As time passed by, he swept his hand over the floor, collecting the small plastic piece. Some small irrational part of him hoped that maybe with them he could mend her. Make her as good as knew but... deep down he knew... he had really lost her.

Breaking out of his depression, he stared to the screen of the main computer, which was producing a loud and irritating beep. He didn't have any patience with what had taken away Nichole. He was prepared to let out all of the buried fury on the computer until, just before he made his strike, he noticed the command on the screen.

"Welcome new user Tails"

Tails lowered his fist, his face still blank and tear filled. He didn't want to wipe them away. It just didn't seem worth the effort. He recognised this feeling. This feeling of absolute loss... he felt numb. He couldn't think straight. He didn't want to think straight. As if he could hide away from his problems by turning away from them.

His hand moved by itself as he accessed the computer, trying to find anything of interest. One thing did catch his interest. A file. A small .hg (hologram) file saved to the hard drive 1 minuet ago. It was entitled Nichole. He clicked it instantly, feeling that bitter sweet sensation, hope fill him again. Maybe she transferred herself to the computer. Maybe it'll say the damage to her was just superficial... so he clicked and wait.

A few seconds later, a beam shot out of a device just above Tails, aimed behind where he was standing. Standing there was a Mobian. A transparent Mobian... A Beautiful transparent Mobian. The image showed a divine lynx with a brown coat of fur with black tinges for her hands, feet and waving head hair. The lynx looked frozen in mid speech. Just as Tails circled around and came face to face, the transparency disappeared and she began to move and speak.

"Tails" She spoke. Tails recognized the voice. Nichole. He wanted to call out and speak to her but her voice continued without pause.

"If you are watching this, then the mission was a success, though right now, I guess you don't think it is." She said looking away from the invisible object she was looking towards. "I'm sorry to say this now but... I lied. I couldn't hack into the main system and stop the secondary defences. Their stand alone and could not be affected by me... but despite all this, you do now have access to Robotnick's empire. You can stop him now."

There was another pause as Tails just shook his head. The guilt. He couldn't bare it. He didn't want to pay this just to get at Robotnick. HE HAD TOLD HER THAT, he screamed at himself.

"I know what you told me... before we came and how you regretted leaving me" She said as if reading his mind. "But, despite this, I truly believe that this was what was best. I'm sorry if you don't think that way. But this was all I could think of..."

The silence came again but was broke off as Nichole stared forward again towards Tails, smiling. "I don't know if you believe me. I am only a machine. Not a living creature... But I... Ow this is silly." She said looking away embarrassed. "I promised myself when making this I wouldn't edit it or think ahead as to what to say. I wanted this to come naturally. On the fly..."

She shook her head to regain her composure. "...As I spent time with you Tails. Over the years. Doing what I could for you, of all the feelings that were coming to me, one stood out. I couldn't identify it. It wasn't easy to comprehend. The feeling kept shifting, affecting me in different ways. No information I had could identify it... it was only when I was on my own, for the first time in 10 years, that I think I understand it."

Nichole's face softened as she tried to pluck the courage for the final part of her speech. "I love you." She said simply, Tails expression displaying the shock and despair he just felt come back in full force. "Not as a lover. I don't think so" Nichole continued. "Or brother or sister. Mother or daughter or any of the usual family formed bonds that people describe love as. But I still think it's love. I love you Tails..." Nichole once again stood silent before continue. "When I was alone, with my thoughts, I decided to look up the definition of love. "Someone willing to sacrifice everything for another" it said. I know, cheesy but... I agree with it."

"I'm only a machine Tails. There's only so much I can give you. So this is all I can give you. The only thing left I feel I can offer that will be of help to you. I don't know if you feel the same way, and I'm willing to accept that. All I ask is... Tails."

Nichole seemed to take an imaginary breath before continuing "You're not a monster. No matter how much you convince yourself, I know you're not a heartless killer. The fact you came back proves that." She said with a smile. "So please. Don't give up on life. All life is precious and yours is no different. Please don't throw your life away. That's all I ask..."

"This is all the time I could fit in order to transfer the file before I am destroyed so, this is all I have to say... please be well Tails... and please don't forget me." Then a look of regret appeared on her face as if regretting what she said at the end but just that instant the image flash away leaving Tails on his own, Nichole's remains still clutched strongly in Tails hands.

The dead streets of Robotropolis welcomed Tails again. The odd SWAT-Bot he had previously tried to avoid he strode casually past them as they saluted him. The numbness was back. The utter withdrawal from reality had come as he expected. The steps he took, his breathing... all sounds sounded hollow, with a faint echo. He still remembered how he reacted just before. He had cried. Cried more than he ever had in his life. He wailed and screamed like a baby, demanding, begging that everything was better again, and knowing it wouldn't, ever, only made him scream and cry harder. He wanted her back. Even now in his half dead state he just wanted her back. Even if just with her monotone voice and strict schedule, all the negative things that he took for granted. He just wanted her back.

She was gone. She had left him, and this time there really wasn't any glimmer of hope she could be found or transferred or any possible way to meet her again and say... "I do to". But he couldn't. That single statement would be left unanswered for all eternity. And there it was again... the rage. The caged beast demanding to be let out. Screaming it would make everything better. Just let him loose on his one target. But as the primal urge surrounded him, demanding for him to just let go, an old phrase, lost in the depths of his memory surfaced. He remembered that day. Didn't think he could get any happier...

"_Are you ready to face the dangers and pain you may endure, fighting for your and our freedom?"_

--

_**Past (Formerly Distant Future)**_

--

As Tails stared down at the encampment from his loan perch on the cliff edge, his leg dangling over the edge and his eyes cast up the sky, he took out the remains of Nichole, his thumb gently rubbing against the screen and darkened panels.

"_Are you truly ready to go out into the remains of this world and do all in your power to bring it back into its former glory?"_

--

_**Present**_

--

As the grip on the log tightened and Tails took one final deep breath, he lunged into the dark, seemingly endless hole after muttering.



"...Guess I'm about to find out"

--

So, Here we go again. Sorry about the wait and my horrendous estimate of 1 month to finish but new job been taking most of my time. Anyway, hope you enjoy and the 3 different time issues are solved. From now on will just continue with "Present" timeline.

I know I sound like a review whore but would like people to write in and comment. Anyway, hopefully now stuff about the actual Wolf pack will surface but for now, hope you enjoy and will writing in soon.


	8. Chapter 7

_Present (4 days to go)_

He remembered this feeling. This wonderful free-fall feeling of shooting down in the pitch black and then suddenly without hesitation you would shoot left, then right, then loop around... even though he remembered the sequence of directions the shoot went off in, it still was exhilarating. For the 10 years he had lived in Knothole he had never seen the full shoot. One of the reasons Knothole remained so secretive was that the primary way into it, used by most Freedom Fighters was the shoot. A log that bent downwards off a small hill edge but suddenly, through some feat of nature, continued underground and came out about 4 hundred metres north of where you entered. A tree which had grown through a hill side with a trunk large enough for most Mobians to fit through was a true marvel of nature.

It didn't take long though for the familiar falling sensation to reach its peak and the light at the end of the tunnel to show itself for Tails to land merrily into the stack of hay ahead.

As his head shot out of the straw pile, spit bits of hay from his mouth, he could see Lupe and Cilen already swiping at their fur to get their coats clean. As Tails did the same and they got ready to move again, Tails looked ahead. He froze.

The clean swaying river, the little wood caved bridge, the many hand/paw built huts and the few paths made throughout the village...Knothole. Just as his memory had preserved it, just as beautiful as he remembered, the hidden village. That familiar fear once again engulfed him but as one side of his mind irrationally held him back, fearing that familiar den of safety he once called home, he still, without thinking, walked forward.

His head was turning to and throw to the huts and the Mobians scattered around, getting on with their day to day lives. He didn't recognise many. The village had been small and easy to get to grips with for Tails before, but when the other Freedom Fighter Teams came, with even more civilians who did not or could not fight, he soon got lost in the maze of unfamiliar faces. He had remembered feeling some anger towards them, some pathological hatred of those who did not want to fight for their own freedom. But noticing that with civilians came civilian jobs, such as gardeners, cooks, mechanics and basic handymen, he found Knothole to be far more civilised. Instead of a cold baths and rather simple food, came tastes he had never experienced before and WARM BATHS. Whatever hatred he had for them had soon disappeared when he had been given his first non-raw-vegetable-dominated dish.

As Tails walked on, now Lupe leading the way, he did notice the odd stare coming his way. He should have guessed but it still made him feel uneasy. His tails. He knew he would have some problems dealing with his name sakes when he started this but hoped everyone would get used to it.

As he returned he walked, trying to ignore the stares, he soon found himself infront of a very familiar hut. He desperately tried to calm down. He knew and respected her enough to know he could very easily be rumbled if he didn't get into his act. Even though, who knew whether or not it would be enough to fool Sally?

Sally sat at her desk, Nichole planted infront of her, desperately trying to figure out a way into her next raid spot, a oil refinery off the edge of Robotropolis. But even being a few miles outside the city the security made it nearly impossible getting in and out without one or two of the squads being capture, atleast nearly impossible all the ways she saw.

Just as she decided to just make it a lone run with just her and Sonic, a knock came at the door.

"Come in" She said in her tired voice as she took Nichole and attached her to her boot strap.



As she did, the door loomed inwards and Lupe walked inside, a welcoming smile adorned her face. Sally looked generally pleased as she got up and gave a light hug to the female pack leader.

"It's good to see you back. I got word of your mission. Are you alright?"

"I am fine, Sally. It is good to be back... though not a total relief." Lupe admitted.

Sally just shook her head as she beckoned Lupe to enter. "I'm not too happy having these fights inside Knothole grounds, Lupe. I know I know little about your culture but is this really necessary? Atleast now? I have a major raid coming up and having our most effective strike force taken up for 4 full days will really..." Sally stopped as her eyes fell on Lupe's companions. Cilen she had already met on her first visit to the Wolf Pack but the other snow wolf seemed new to her. But that was only an afterthought to what waved back and forth behind him.

As Sally realised she was actually being quite rude staring at Tails tails, Lupe decided to introduce him now before Sally started asking awkward questions.

"I'm sorry. Where are my manners? Sally, this is my new bodyguard, for the tournament, Cable. He was the one actually who saved me on that mission just yesterday"

Tails bowed, set on keeping his character up as convincingly as possible. "It's an honour Princess."

"Ow, thank you" Sally replied, eyes occasionally twitching back to the two tails "Cable" had, always in motion on either side of him.

"He is a wolf we found just recently. Very skilled, even by our standards" Lupe praised, causing Tails to blush slightly, whilst he scratched the back of his head sheepishly with a friendly smile shining back. "He actually came here for the sake of joining the Freedom Fighters" Lupe finished.

"Well, if you have room of course. And I'm happy to go through any test to prove myself." Tails said rather quickly, adding a light laugh at the end.

For Sally, she was already convinced. Already filed under nervous recruit, her curiosity over his multiple tails had disappeared.

"We'd welcome the help. And if Lupe can vouch for you, I'm sure we could sort something out" Sally replied as friendly as possible, in hopes of putting the wolf at ease. She still found it funny how someone probably 4-5 years her senior was so twittery infront of her. Her title still made it hard to make a good impression on new people with their noses in the dirt.

"That's great" Tails replied, his face lighting up, but then sinking before adding. "Um, sorry to be difficult but it will have to be after this tournament thing... still don't know why though" He replied almost sulkily to Lupe.

"Whether of a pack or not you still are expected to atleast bare witness to these proceedings." Lupe lectured, internally impressed at Tails show. Ignorant, shy, slightly immature but friendly... all qualities completely believable in the character Tails was playing out. She guessed the character would slowly shift towards Tails personality, as he got used to his "new" surroundings. But generally, she found herself almost believing his display. He even pouted slightly at her. Not something she believed Tails to be even capable of.

"It should be OK. I already expect it, though..." She couldn't hold back her curiosity. ".. may I ask about your..."



Though Tails outwardly looked awkward and just slightly ashamed, inwardly he grinned. His second tail did have a plus with his story and character. Have a mutation like his would make his shy character far more believable.

"Ow um, these?" Tails pointed to his waving name-sakes. He pointed towards the one on his left side. "This is just a birth defect. Something about my spine not forming properly..." a look of confusion appeared his face. "...or is it this one?" Tails said pointing to his right. "Anyway... it won't be a problem, will it?"

"No, no!" Not at all. Infact we have a young fox who lives here with the same... condition" Sally spurted out, guessing this was a sore subject for Cable, despite his cute joke of his. She didn't know how far she should press, like whether or not he could fly like Tails, which would be a big help, since her two main flying Freedom Fighters was Tails, who was both too young and probably couldn't carry anyone anyway, and Dulcy who... could be described as still in training.

"Really? Didn't think it was common" Tails replied.

"Yes, his names Tails. You will probably see him about. He's a young orange fox. Usually hangs around Sonic, a blue hedgehog." Sally replied, as she gathering a few items in preparation to move on.

"I'll look out for him then" Tails replied happily.

"Anyway, if that is all, we still have some issues to deal with. Like the meeting of the 3 other leaders who should have just come in. Have they been any trouble?" Lupe asked, as if trying to excuse them of any rough behaviour.

"Well, the Blood Claw have mostly kept to themselves. All I did was other them a small section of Knothole housing and we've barely heard a peep from them" Sally replied, making her way to the door, with the others following. "The Low Moon clan don't strike me as aggressive, socially that is. They've mingled around and there leader is quite friendly. Dark Eyes... they haven't caused trouble as such but have been make the odd comments here and there... things like being True Warriors, and how Knothole had even survived so long... it does agate the other villagers. Especially the other Freedom Fighters they openly insult."

Lupe, as they stepped out and walked across the village, shook her head. "The Dark Eyes have had a history of vanity. A sort of pride and superiority passed from father to son. It's also very sexist a social structure. Guess their open aggression is based, I'm afraid, on you being the leader."

Sally nodded, a thin smile on her face as they continued their trek. "I kind of got the feeling from their leader. Just meeting him makes me want to root for you more, Lupe. He looks at me as if he expects me to see the error of my ways by foolishly trying to lead and just go home and bare a good mans children like a good girl should."

Tails looked and felt relatively shocked. He had been around Sally for years, though all the time he just saw her as she acted infront of him. The caring considerate parent, with a heart of gold. He genuinely never expected to hear something like that coming from her mouth.

Lupe openly laughed as both Cilen and Tails were ignored in their girl talk. "If I have the pleasure of fighting him, I'll make sure to give him a good kick his "leadership" for you. Having a girl take away his ability to bare children does make delicious irony."

Sally and Lupe just laughed as Cilen and Tails just meekly stared at one another.

It had struck Tails then that he had, defiantly fooled Sally. His act, though not floorless, had been convincing enough to hold back any questions that might arise. And to Tails surprise, when getting 

into roll, he barely reacted to Sally. No tears, no widened eyes, not even any pauses, it went great... then why did he feel so empty?

Before, whenever any memory of Sally or Sonic had come up, it was his last images of them, in their grotesque burnt forms, that surfaced in his memory. He remembered sleepless nights when the second his mind fell away and he succumbed to sleep, there they were... mocking him. Always there, never giving him a moments rest. It was this, more than most that was his main fear of coming back. That maybe he would "flip" in his current condition and end up resenting them both for his pain. He didn't trust himself mentally for such a task a first... and still didn't.

But here he was. Keeping his act up, no mental backlash to speak of and barely reacting to Sally's presence... but despite meeting all his own expectations, it still depressed him.

He had barely felt anything, not just hate but... that old warmth as well. That urge that, if things were getting too rough for him, he could run up and get a loveable hug from his kind aunt. And that did depress him... and scare him slightly, that maybe... he really was beginning to care less... become that heartless animal he imagined himself being when his final drops of compassion dripped away.

Whilst in this depressive state of mind, he just realised that they had reached their destination.

The campsite the wolf pack, or atleast the pack Lupe lead, was relatively small. No more than 6 huts circled around a central area, for meetings and meals, Tails guessed. As the wolfs who stood around the centre talked amongst themselves, all conversation stopped as the group entered. As Lupe stepped ahead of the group, as one, all the wolves jumped up to her. Apparently word of Lupe's encounter and Drago, and his crews, betrayal had gone further than just Sally's ear.

Tails just let Lupe get questioned by her pack mates, as he still kept back with Cilen. Sally at this point had said a quite goodbye and gone off, back to her planning, Tails guessed. Just as his musings were ending, he noticed all eyes of the wolf pack were on him.

"I was fortunate that Cable here had been passing. I have no doubt that Drago would have succeeded otherwise." Lupe said, apparently finishing her short version of the story.

"Um, hey" Tails meekly replied. In an instant he was bombarded by greetings, thank you's, and shaking hands. All were happy to meet the one responsible for saving their leader. The whole exchange of greetings and names went on for about 5 minutes before Lupe's voice boomed over the clearing.

"Everyone" She said, just loud enough to get everyone's attention. "Despite what a crucial blow we just suffered, with the loss of Botolf at the hands of Drago, Bardou and Jason..." Lupe paused, giving a few moments silence for Botolf, "We need to keep order now, more than ever over the coming days. So, Cable here will be joining us and acting as my bodyguard throughout the tournament"

This however was not met with cheers or any such congratulatory response. The wolfs instead just looked curiously at Cable and back at Lupe. As silence descended until finally one of the more brave members of the wolf pack stepped forward.

"Lupe, not that I'm ungrateful to young Cable here but...taking him in straight away, as your own bodyguard no less..."

"The idea was brought up by the Elders" Lupe replied.

The silence once again descended on the pack. They knew well enough that once the elders stepped in, their views quickly became unheard.



Lupe, guessing her pack wasn't completely happy with a new guy joining and getting such a high position just because he happened to save her life, a feet which she knew a few infront of her had already done before in the past on previous mission, decided to compromise.

"Despite his position, he's still for all intensive purposes, the new guy. He'll be at the bottom of the pecking order like any other rookie joining us, so try to make him feel welcome." Lupe clarified. The pack seemed content with this, and went back to their usual activities, while the wolf who spoke out pointed out the tents and their owners to Tails.

"Lupe" The wolf, who Tails had just found out was called, Takien, spoke "Should I ask someone to bunk up with Cable or will he..."

"Yes" Lupe answered "He will be sleeping with me"

That most certainly got Tails attention as his ears perked up and he stared wide-eyed at Lupe. "What?"

"You will be sleeping with me... to clarify, in my hut, most certainly not on my bed, if that's what you're thinking" Lupe answered

Tails felt relieved... and once again, like during Tails' grooming, not a little disappointed.

"And speaking on the subject, we will be meeting the leaders later on this evening. It's still mourning and we have been walking all night. I want to be fresh when I meet them so I will try and catch up on some sleep. Cable" Lupe beckoned.

Tails automatically followed. As he moved with Lupe to her hut, he noticed the sly grins on the wolves as he passed and a few playfully jealous looks as well.

As Lupe entered and beckoned Tails inside, his eyes fixed themselves on the king sized bed in the middle of the only room. Apart from that, the room looked the same as his old room. A desk, a small bookshelf, a closet and various pictures littering the walls. The only other difference was a couch placed in one of the corners of the room, obviously for reading purposes.

"I didn't think there were any beds in Knothole bigger then a single" Tails commented.

"Ow there are, but there all owned by the females of Knothole. I'm surprised you didn't know that." Lupe replied, as she openly took off her clothing.

Tails instantly turned round as he tried to reply calmly. "Well I knew Sally had one but, I just thought it was because she was a princess"

"Ow no. Quite a few females own double, queen sized or even king sized beds. It saves time." Lupe answered

Tails almost turned around but caught himself before replying, "Saves time?"

"Yes. Ratio wise, there are far more females then males in Knothole. During the takeover, more women were caught then man, since most of the men were still outside of Mobotropolis at war with the humans. Because of this, instead of supplying all couples with large, sharable beds when they get together, all women are provided for as to minimise any problems in that area"

Tales decided not to bother mentioning any of his views on the subject and just rested down in one of the corners, his back resting against the wall, trying to get a good comfortable position but also one 

where he could jump straight into action. He had gotten used to sleeping like this whilst on the run, sleeping but just uncomfortable enough to promise a light sleep.

Lupe, who had already slid under her sheets just stared happily at Tails. "There is a couch you can sleep on. That is one of the advantages of sleeping here, as my bodyguard"

Tails just smiled back wearily. "I, apparently, am still you bodyguard. This is the idle sleeping position so I can be ready if anything happens."

Just as Tails finished and tried to get comfortable against the hard wood, a pillow struck him in the face. As he turned to Lupe, she just shook her head.

"Don't bother making things more difficult for yourself then they already are, Rambo. You need a good night sleep aswell... Anyway, goodnight" And with that, her head rested on her one remaining pillow as she quickly nodded off.

Tails, still leaning there, pillow in hand just stared at her sleeping form. He could feel that old urge coming up again but quickly shrugged it off... she really was something though, he thought, as he took the pillow and rested his head against it.

Their rest didn't last long. Tails had to admit the sleep had done him some good, as he stood up and stretched. He had been lightly woken up by Lupe's stirring as she, herself was waking. They could both smell dinner being served and Tails had to admit, it did smell delicious. Just as he gathered his things, Lupe stood up from her bed. As Tails turned to greet up, staring for only a moment on her naked body, he spun around on the spot once again. Behind him, Lupe just grinned.

"I have no problems you looking upon me like this." Lupe playfully said, as she took a spare change of clothes and dressed. "Sally is practically naked most of the time. Is there much difference?"

She could see Tails squirm, as he tried to find the right words. "Well yes buts... she's not... as well..."

"Developed?" Lupe replied, her hand lightly touching Tails should. He jumped instantly but noting the playful grin on her face, knew not to back down or appear as some sexually uncomfortable boy.

"Yes." He replied fatly. "Anyway, this is my 1st sitting with the pack... what should I do? Are there any customs I should know?"

Lupe's grin never left her face. She paused for a second before replying. "Just be yourself. That should be enough" and with that, she walked passed and went through the door.

As Tails followed and his eyes met the wolf pack all sitting around the central fire, he could feel the atmosphere change around them. The playful banter he heard seemed more forced, like they were focused on something else.

Tails stepped forward to the centre just as Lupe sat down to one side next to Cilen with a bowl of, what appeared to be, stew. He was handed a bowl of his own, but thanks to the seating, he couldn't sit next to Lupe as he would have preferred, so instead opted to go to one of the less crowed sides of the circle.

Just as he sat down and placed his spoon into the thick and lumpy brown liquid, he could tell all eyes were on him. What was going on? He thought to himself. Was something supposed to happen?



Tails, getting uncomfortable with the subtle attention, took the spoon to his mouth and eat... dead lord, he thought as all of his self control forced him not to spit out the stew. It was degusting. Indescribable sour, practically forcing his mouth to implode in on itself. But he swallowed. He made sure not to let any emotional difference pass his face, despite his wish to contort and puke out what he and just eaten.

So this was it, Tails guessed.

Spiking the food, a way of braking in new members of the pack. Given truly disgusting food, a young and foolish wolf might think this could be how the real wolves eat and took his food without complaint... So, Tails was left with a problem. This could Infact be a test of manners and knowing your place and not complaining after being given food freely or a test of resolve and asking for something else. A typical test. One with a vague, hidden meaning but really there just to humiliate new recruits.

So what did he do? If he asked for something else, it could be a huge insult to the pack and himself, or just keep eating and end up the butt of a practical joke... No wonder Lupe didn't sit next to him. He was alone with this one.

He could tell the focus of the pack was on him again, though not openly. It had been a few seconds since he had swallowed and continued eating.

So... what to do...

_Just be yourself. That should be enough_

Well Lupe, he thought. If this goes wrong, I can always complain to you afterwards for giving me the bad advice.

"Um, Takien" Tails asked, to the wolf from before who was serving the food.

Though the pack kept eating, all eyes were now openly on Tails.

"Yes" He replied, a hint of displeasure in his voice.

"Just wondering what was in this stew?" Tails asked politely

"Deer... why? Something wrong with it?" he asked quite venomously, as if practically begging to stay, sit down and shut up and eat your food.

"Well... it's just... how can I put this..." Tails replied.

The pack, though hiding it, were practically grinning amongst themselves. From his replay all guessed he was trying to politely ask for something else. In other words, easy verbal prey for Takien to simply take his bowl away from him like some whiny child. What Tails said instead did get them by surprise.

"... well, it's probably the most disgusting thing I have ever eaten."

The only sound that could be heard was the crackling of the fire. No one dared mutter a word. Most of the wolf pack could barely hold their surprise, including Takien. Lupe however just kept eating, using the bowl to hide her smirk.

Before Takien could reply, Tails continued. "I'm positive if you had just given me any part of the deer raw, even the hooves, I would be more content." He said as he scooped some of the brew up in his spoon and let it dribble back into the bowl. "It is truly revolting"

Takien carefully rose from his seating position and walked towards Tails until he was towering above him. "You are a guest here, BOY. How dare you insult a meal given to you. I don't care if you saved Lupe or not, I-"

"I'm not a guest" Tails cut in as he stood up in one smooth but quick motion. "And even if I was, this food would just be an insult to however you were hosting. But I'm not. I'm a member of your pack. I may be at the bottom of the ranks and the rookie here, but I've had a long and irritating trip getting here and not one made just to be _pranked_ upon because of some stupid induction...

Tails pushed his plate into Takien's hands "I would like a proper meal".

The look of fury on Takien could have melted steel, but the silence that descended again was ended with Cilen laughing.

All stared at the elderly wolf as he rested his bowl down. "Face it Takien. He passed. Give him a proper meal"

In one quick a decisive moment, the fury on Takien's face was instantly gone. "Aw, bugger."

The wolf pack erupted into laughter as Takien sulkily switched his bowl with Tails, confusing him slightly.

To clarify Cilen spoke "A small and entertaining custom of ours. I guess you know what the test was for, to build character in our new recruits..."

Yeah right, Tails thought.

"But, as part of the custom, if anyone on their first day confronts the cook of the night, then the cook must eat the contaminated meal"

Tails just smiled as he was passed Takien's refilled bowl. The look of mild irritation on his face back again as he said, "Dammit, you could have atleast eaten more than one spoon full"

The other just laughed as one wolf spoke out. "Come on Takien, don't whine about it. All in one"

"Yeah, all in one" Another said.

As the chant went up, Takien sighed as he took a deep breath, and in a single motion, downed the bowl in one painful go. The second the last drops went down his throat, he threw the bowl out of the clearing, where it shattered against a tree, and stared coughing.

"Dear god, why do we have taste buds again?" He choked out as he was handed some water.

The others laughed as the tense atmosphere disappeared and the distance the other wolves had made for Tails was quickly gone as he was surrounded on both sides by chatty wolves. Though Tails was by no means a people person, and found physical contact with other people still alien, he soon found himself dragged into the various conversations that were sprouting up around the campsite.

Lupe still smiled as Tails happily conversed with the wolves on his left and right as he slurped down on his, now edible, food. He was a little more up front than what Lupe was expecting but she had gathered he would probably pass. She always felt it was a little cruel on new recruits to do such an embarrassing test. Some had eaten their contaminated portions for over a week before they picked up the courage to ask, and then it was kindly given to them without much hassle.

As time went on and the food was cleared away, Lupe noticed Tails standing to one side of the clearing, stretching his legs in a series of warm up exercises.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Haven't been for a good run in a while. Thought I'd use the few hours spare to give myself a quick work out." Tails explained

Lupe just stared in disbelief. "Ta- Cable" She corrected herself. "We've been trekking through the forest for nearly 2 days with almost no rest. Where do you get your energy?"

Tails just flashed her a smiled as he finished his warm-up. "God knows. Anyway, be back before the meeting." And with that, Tails took off at a run. Not an earth-shattering speed, just a casual run, just to get into his rhythm.

As he set off at his casual pace, make out for the forest instead of the main village, his mind went back, to when Nichole and he still played under their little farce.

It was about 3 years into their journey, when Tails had started striding into his... problem. At the time, along with Tails rapidly changing food supply, one major problem came about. Nichole's power supply. Though they occasionally came across batteries during their ventures, Nichole's usual source of power, the sun, had just dried up. It was at that time Robotnick's madness had kicked in and he had made a strike against his last enemy, the planet. So the skies started to blacken, and though the there was still the low, filtered light that came through the cloud line, Nichole's power was diminishing. So, through her guidance, Tails had been able to design an alternative means of power. A simple chemical charger. Nichole simply had to be sat down and the charger struck in the earth and Nichole could recharge off of the natural chemicals and nutrients in the ground. Though a marvel of engineering, Tails, most certainly, couldn't take the credit. The main device was just found at one of the posts they had visited and Nichole had instructed him how to modify it for their purposes. But still, the crisis was over and Nichole had a sustainable source of power.

The only problem was that Nichole had to remain in standby mode for the charge to work. And since the charge not only took many, many hours to complete and even then didn't give Nichole more then 48 hours of run time, that gave Tails lots of unsupervised time to do what he wanted. Originally, Nichole thought he had carried on with his martial arts training, being the main reason for his success from one stage to another. But to Tails, that was just fun for him. Something for him to look forward to. Instead, he did what in his heart he knew he had to do. What he knew what had called him since he had left Knothole... he ran... Ow god, did he run.

That exhilaration, that thrill... he had known for quite a while even then that the, so called, speed cameras hadn't been functional, so nothing stopped him from his wondrous journeys. And in doing so, he had finally mastered something he had been trying to do, even before the disaster. Run with his tails.

Simple sounding, in fact using his tails to aid him whilst running had proven, at the time for the young fox, very, very difficult. The main problem went like this. If he ran, he ran. Not at Sonic's speeds but still pretty fast, since it was the main activity he had done whilst in Knothole. When he used his tails, they acted like a propeller, holding up his rear and so the rest of his body. But at the angle, they worked like a helicopter. So using his legs to travel whilst flying just along the ground like that had just proven awkward. To attain the speeds he dreamed of, the speeds where he could keep in stride with Sonic, he had to use his tails with his feet in a different way. He had to make them spin behind him, whilst standing upright. Simple sounding but, that did mean he effectively had a properly spinning at incredible speeds right behind him. So, when he first tried it on his own, he ran forward, spun his tails... and almost cut his own foot off. The problem was that his feet had to, in order to make 

a good stride, stay behind him, further then where his own tails were spinning. So as his foot went backwards, his tail slashed across it and, despite only being mostly fur, nearly cut his foot clean off. It had been luckily he was barely moving at the time and the angle of the cut or he could have cut his tendon. So after his recovery, he promised himself, and a frantic Sally and Sonic, not to do it again.

But, like most promises he ended up making, he broke it. And in the dust filled plains of Mobius, he had done it. Perfected his running style. Now instead of either running normally or flying along the ground like a helicopter, he could skim across the ground, much like an air boat worked. The secret he had discovered, was to 1st slow down his own tails so they span at the same rate his feet were moving. And then came the matter of timing his legs to weave between his tail spins and then speed up. After a while and a few close calls, as soon as he got his rhythm going, it came naturally.

He was not, as he knew, as fast as Sonic, but his style did have it's advantages. For one, he could instantly switch to flight mode with the simple raise of his rear. He also, by not only turning the direction of his legs but his tails as well, turn faster than Sonic. And that was all he needed. Going faster than Sonic, he knew was like the impossible dream in search of perfection. Something he would never attain but still keep him determined. So he had his way, and he was truly happy with himself. And not only that, he could attain that breath glimmer of fulfilment that Sonic got when running. He could finally understand Sonic's drive. And at the time, he had truly felt happy... and depressed, at being reminded of his old friend.

So, back to his run, Tails was trying to get into synch with himself. Getting his rhythm just right.

"Come on" he muttered, getting frustrated. "Come on..."

And after a few seconds as he weaved between the trees... "THERE"

And like a bullet he shot off. The trees now a blur mostly as he turned and weaved between the forest's obstacles, reaching nearly full thrust. His feat, along with his tails looked like two fuzzy circles. One grey with a snow white tip and the other grey with red, caused by his shoes, ending the circle.

As the forest zoomed past and he nearly reached that wonderful moment of serenity... the green and brown was, for one moment replaced with blue and orange. Tails nearly skipped a beat.

For Sonic, it was just the usual day in Knothole. He had just woken up from a long night's raiding, had breakfast, met up with Tails and tried to come up with some form of activity to keep his immensely short attention span occupied. After a short discussion, they had decided to just pop over to the ring lake and try to catch the next incoming ring. Maybe boring, but with the village in mild chaos over the wolf pack tournament thing, it was all he could do to keep himself from being dragged into the whole mess. So he had expected a relatively uneventful day... so he was rightfully shocked as, just passing his vision went something... very fast. And Sonic wasn't about calling most speed based hovercrafts fast. Whatever had just passed both him and a startled Tails... had broken the sound barrier.

With the speeds Sonic travelled and his need to make out passing objects, incoming or not, he could make one vitally important thing from the thing that had just passed them... it was a Mobian.

Tails stopped realising what he had just done... dear lord had he just made a mistake. Dare he say it, a MONDO mistake. Ow god...

He generally didn't know if he was ready for this. Not only meeting Sonic but... himself. He knew it was them. It was obvious. As obvious as to what Sonic would do when he saw something fast go by 

him. He could feel that worry again as the seconds went by and he could tell both Sonic and his younger self would come running over the hill towards him.

He had to get back into his character. Though not as difficult to fool as Sally, he had to keep his act up... for his own sake.

Just as Sonic came rushing across the hill, with young Tails dragging behind, they both came to a smoke raising stop infront of a hunched and coughing "wolf".

Just as the smoke cleared and Sonic finally got a good view of his mark, his eyes widened, as hid his small side kick,

Tails however, honestly was coughing as the small dust storm Sonic had caused had collided with him as they had stopped.

"Hey (cough), any need to bring up (cough) half the forest floor?" Tails asked, his form hunched as his curled up hand was infront of his mouth, coughing out the dust he had breathed in.

Sonic had just remained silent, his eyes fixed on this stranger's waving tails. The young Tails however had not bothered with any decorum and jumped forward, staring intently at his tall white doppelganger.

"Sonic, look. He's just like me" Tails chirped out happily.

"So I see buddy" Sonic replied, still a little shocked.

Tails, pretending to shocked looked down at his younger self's tails as well. "Aw, you're Tails, aren't you?" he said.

"You know me?" The younger Tails replied, his attention diverted from the future self's tails.

"Yeah. Princess Sally told me about you." Tails replied happily. He turned to Sonic and looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry, I'm new here. You must be Sonic, right? Names Cable" he said, offering his hand

Sonic just dumbly nodded as he took and shook the hand. His shock over the tails was slowly disappearing, and being replaced with shock over the speed this wolf had managed.

"That was you that just passed us by, wasn't it?" Sonic asked as young Tails fell in beside him.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Hope I didn't scare you there. Just going for my daily run" Tails replied, hoping Sonic wouldn't question so much how he had managed such a feet.

"But you were going fast. MONDO fast." Young Tails called out, his hands flailing on either side. He then looked a little unsure. "Maybe even... Sonic fast"

Before Sonic could take up such a challenge, possibly even insult, Tails decided to clarify, just so they didn't start off as possible rivals.

"Unfortunately, I'm not quite that fast yet. Can, just scrape over the sound barrier. From what I've heard, you can practically smash it" Tails said, knowing fully well the best way to Sonic's heart, after chilli-dogs was flattery.



"Yep, even faster with a power ring" Sonic said proudly, ego practically glowing behind him. But as his ego deflated, he replied, in a friendly tone, "But still, that was amazing what you did. Breaking the sound barrier is majorly difficult for most rockets. How did you manage it?"

Tails just smiled sheepishly as he pointed back to his tails. "These mostly."

"Really?" Young Tails said, looking back at his own, smaller ones.

"Yeah. Having a propeller spinning behind you whilst running is a major help" Tails replied happily.

As young Tails eyes practically sparkled, Sonic was brought back to Tails' own attempt to do something similar.

"Then how do you run with those things spinning behind you?" Sonic asked

Tails, who noted the seriousness to Sonic's voice quickly answered, explaining how he made his style, though altering it obviously considering his audience.

Once Tails was finished, young Tails quickly asked "Amazing. Could you teach me?"

Before Tails could replay, Sonic quickly, but lightly kicked tails on the left side of his left foot. "Not after what happened last time, Big Guy"

Sonic wasn't usually the strict parenting type around Tails, but memories of watching him asleep whilst having the side of his foot being sown was more than enough to scare him into keeping a watchful eye on him when dealing with his tails. The fact was, when spinning fast enough to lift him off his feet, they were like buzz saws.

Young Tails looked down meekly. "OK"

It was then though, as Sonic wanted to cheer up his now depressed little buddy he remembered what he had wanted to say the second he saw Tails rush past him.

"Anyway, Cable... how long can you keep up that pace of yours?" Sonic asked

Tails looked slightly confused as he answered, "Well, though my tails don't tire, my feet at the pace they go at do, and it's dangerous for me to exert myself or I get out of synch."

"Think you still have one run left?" Sonic asked, a grin that Tails never thought he'd see again, plastered on his face.

In the village of Knothole, just as evening was approaching and the arrival of the 3 wolf pack leaders came, something wonderful happened. It started snowing. It was not uncommon for the time of year to maybe have a few days of snow, if they were luckily, and the children, not missing a beat, were already outside trying to catch snowflakes.

Inside the pack area, Lupe organised her wolves, making sure everything was presentable for the other 3 leaders. Just as she was checking everything over, Tails wondering in, happily greeting the wolves littered about as he made his way to her. Lupe looked curious as she peered at the expression on his face. Before, since she was in on it, could tell when Tails had his act up. That slight transparency in his expression gave it away. But now, a truly happy grin was spread across his face as he reached and greeted her.

"Evening Lupe. Everything ready?" Tails chirped.

Lupe just stared for a moment before replying, "Yes, we should have everything ready...are you ok?"

"Of course, in fact no, better then OK. I feel fantastic." He said, his grin threatening to split his face.

"What's got you in this mood then?" Lupe asked, bemused at Tails actions.

"Just met up with some old friends" Tails replied, still smiley as he entered her hut, with her following closely behind.

"Really, who's that?" And just then did she notice how sweaty Tails was under his fur. "And what have you been doing? Your run couldn't have been that long?"

"Who was running? I was racing" Tails replied as he took his socks and shoes off and rested on the couch just after he grabbed a towel to dab himself with.

Tails felt happier now than he ever had. Atleast in the past 10 years easily had he ever felt so utterly joyful... he had raced Sonic. Really raced him.

As simple as that sounded to bring out such a reaction, for Tails, it was something of a dream for him. And a realisation. Back when he was younger, he had always looked on Sally and Sonic for advice and guidance. Atleast more so then any of the other Freedom Fighters. But as he grew up, something happened that... well... he hadn't really wanted, honestly. Sally had tried to mother him. Despite how much he loved her, he truly hated it when he got the suspicion that she was trying to raise him. And that was mainly because, of what he wanted. He didn't want anyone to raise him. Frankly Rosie had done that whilst he was a baby. At 5+ he had been able to look after himself pretty well. But with Sonic and Sally, he didn't want a set of parents. All he wanted, was to be equal to them.

To Tails, all he had ever wanted was not to be seen as a child by them. He just wanted to be useful, to be trusted, to be...respected by them. To earn their respect. And he knew, if he ever gave the title of mother to her... that would never happen. The fact was that their age difference, though large now, was only 6 years. After a decade or two, that gap would be gone. But making such bonds like mother/child would never go away. All the great things Tails wanted to do when he was older, he didn't want Sally to be "Proud" of him. He wanted her to treat him as an equal. It was this reason, that Sonic, having one of his few moments of intelligence, didn't try and take up the post of father to Tails, or uncle. The role of brother was far more suitable for him. Not so much responsibility but just enough to try and guide him. That was why Tails loved his relationship with Sonic. Because some day, he wouldn't look at him like a child or "Big Guy". He would stand alongside him.

That was why today was so special to Tails. He had done it. Even though, to Sonic's mind he was just a stranger he had befriended, to him it was everything. He had pushed Sonic. Unlike anyone else alive, he had raced Sonic and actually challenged him. That was something Sonic had been looking for most of his life... and it had been Tails who had given it to him. All those days running with Sonic, trying futilely to match his godly speeds, all he had wanted to do with give Sonic what he had always wanted... a challenge.

And Today he had. Sonic, winning the race looked just like Tails, genially happy and practically demanded Tails to another race when he was in top form, tomorrow.

...He had done it. Sonic no longer looked at him like a kid. Though he wasn't Tails in his eyes... he wasn't a child either... he was someone he respected, if only for his speed.

And it was for this reason why realization came. Realization as to why he didn't feel as emotional when he met Sally. It was because she just didn't see him as Tails and frankly... he liked it that way. In his early years he knew the title of Aunt would be tough to shred but now, he could start new.

Start new fresh relationships with them all, show them, even if they didn't know it, just how he turned out, and for the first time in 10 long years... he didn't think he turned out that badly.


	9. Chapter 8

_Present (4 days to go)_

The evening dragged on, and just as the sun light, tinged red from the dust from the horizon, the three leaders finally arrived, alongside Sally and Sonic who were guiding them.

Each one came with a small battalion of wolves by their sides and each wore some form of face paint, obviously the symbol for their specific pack. Tails at this point had taken his side next to Lupe, standing just behind her so to go mostly unnoticed throughout the proceedings. He didn't think anything would go wrong but he was still worried, not only by Lupe's chances of succeeding, but also on her competition.

The Low Moon clan leader seemed to fit the bill that Sally made him out as. Though big with a rather impressive form, the traits of age showing from the odd wrinkle and his grey tinged fur along his healthy brown coat. Like Sally said, he seemed relatively friendly, as shown by his posture and his open expression. The Dark Eyes leader however... he didn't know how to describe him. From how he acted and his posture, he stood like a general, staring down at the peasants. All he needed was a monocle and Antoine's medal covered vest to finish the picture. As for his physical form, he didn't seem as tough as his competitors in strength but his physic seemed more suited for agility.

Despite all that, the other two could barely hold a candle compared to the last leader, the Blood Claws chief. He stood, height wise between the other two and his fur was jet black all over, even the muzzle and chest hair. As for his body, physically, it seemed far more lean and tough then the others. But it wasn't just that that drew attention to him. It was the way he moved, the way he looked at people. His very presence screamed to Tails. The Dark Eye leader looked quite an emotion driven man but the Blood Claw one... he seemed the sort of person who would kill everyone around him and not bat an eyelid. That silent animosity and cold stare truly scared Tails. It seemed so frighteningly familiar.

As Tails finished sizing them up, the preceding started.

"It is good we all finally meet" The Low Moon Leader said happily, a tooth filled grin shining on his fellow leaders. "As tradition dictates, we start with the greeting, and if no one minds, I will start. I am Amaguk, head of the Low Moon clan." Amaguk, then turned to Sally who was standing just outside their little circle. "And I would also like to give thanks for the gracious hospitality you and your people have given us, Your Majesty"

Sally nodded respectfully, and offered her thanks back.

"Well then, I believe the White Claw pack is next" He bellowed happily

Lupe nodded and turned to the three members before her. "I am Lupe, of the White Fang clan-" Lupe spoke but was cut off by the low but distinctive chuckling of the Dark Eye clan leader, who had turned away during her greeting. "May we hurry this up? One of our women is expecting child tonight". Amaguk just stared coldly at him as Lupe finished her greetings and stood back.

As she finished, the Dark Eye leader wasted no time in his introduction. "I am Rendall, of the Dark Eye clan" He spoke wearily, his voice greasy and full of distain.

He wasted no time and spoke as if such a matter was beneath his attention. As he finished it was left to the Blood Claw leader to speak.



"I am Fenris, Leader of the Blood Claw tribe" He spoke, his voice very hard and straight forward.

But as he finished and all eyes went on Lupe, to set the rules, Tails only had one thing on his mind.

...Tribe?

"It shall be a basic 4 way tournament. The leaders may make rules amongst themselves for their own fights, as long as both are in agreement. The fights will be as follows. White Fang against Dark Eye and Blood Claw against Low Moon. The fight that follows will decide the Alpha Leadership."

Amaguk nodded and turned Fenris. "Sounds straight forward. It'll be a pleasure fighting you."

Fenris turned, though his blank expression remained. "And to you too" He said with a small bowl.

Rendall however offered no forms of sportsmanship as he turned to Lupe and sneered. "And here I was hoping I could get lucky and not waste my time on a feeble women early on."

Lupe, though enraged, knew she had to keep collected whilst in her own pack area. "I would hope you would have been up with better manners" She spoke with calmly.

Rendall just laughed. "Manners are saved for those I deem appropriate for. Not a mere women such as yourself" He spat.

Amaguk, unable to hold his rage any longer. "You will hold your tongue, leader or not! You are a guest here, as are the rest of us!"

Rendall just chuckled lightly. "There are no rules or traditions about behaviour on another's land. Only suggestions at the most, and I dare not waste any on _her_"

As Lupe quietly fumed, stopping herself from fighting back, her pack members looked practically ready to jump up and rip Rendall's throat out. In the midst of all this, Tails just stood behind Lupe, admittedly forcing himself from taking action. However another thing had his attention. Apart from the scene of Sally trying to calm down Sonic from giving Rendall a piece of his mind, Tails also noticed how Fenris was acting. He didn't seem fazed by Rendall's comments and instead had his focus on something else. Lupe. But not just Lupe in general. Tails noticed his version was hovering on her lower body, just above her waist line...

...Ow no, he thought.

It was Sally now who decided to settle the argument. "Rendall, forgetting wolf tradition and protocol, you are still inside our home and first and foremost you will abide by our rules!"



The greasy smile never left his face as he turned to Sally, nose risen. "Whilst inside the areas you have assigned for us, _Princess_, we have the same rights as if we were inside our own embassies. You have no power what-so-ever whilst we stand in OUR land"

Sally visibly sneered, a look, Tails noticed, certainly did not suite her gentle features. She really looked intimidating when she wanted to, though Rendall barely battered an eyebrow at her demand.

Before the argument went on however, a single, quiet voice which seemed to silence all others was heard.

"Would you mind a private talk, Miss Lupe?" Fenris asked politely.

Lupe, taken back by the sudden and strange request for such a time turned back to Rendall.

Rendall actually seemed openly angry at Fenris, obviously for taking his thunder. "What might I ask is the nature of this conversation? You barely-"

Fenris, with a stare which shut the arrogant leader up instant just replied. "You have embarrassed yourself enough for the evening. It might be best for you to remain silent for the further proceedings" He then turned to both Rendall and Amaguk and said. "We will not be long" And with that disappeared into the darkened forest.

Lupe, deciding that she probably needed some distance from Rendall for the moment quickly followed, leaving the clearing mostly silent as no one knew how to continue with the meeting.

They didn't go far. Only out of eye and ears shot of the others. Lupe walked up to Fenris who was casually leaning against one of the many trees surrounding them.

"Might I ask the reason for this meeting?" Lupe asked, trying to keep things formal.

"I am sorry to call you away, but I believed this was the only chance for such a conversation." And with that he stood up and stepped close to Lupe... very close.

Lupe, now being looked down upon by Fenris, stood her ground. "And the nature of this conversation?"

Fenris just sighed as he peering down at Lupe's waist again. "Might I ask why you are fighting in this competition? You had the chance, before this meeting was taking place, to choose someone to take your place"

Lupe, taken back by such a surprising question replied brashly. "What might be the problem with me fighting? I did not think you shared the same views with-"

Before she could continue, Fenris' hand moved forward, gently cupped around the edge of her waist, just above her thighs and lightly squeezed.

In an instant Lupe fell to her feet, one hand over her mouth to stop herself from screaming. The pain, though from such a delicate action, was excruciating. The area that Fenris had 

touched was the place where the shrapnel had struck her during Tails rescue. It still wasn't healed let.

"That wound, despite how well you hide it, is obviously very painful, even without pressure upon it. The shortness of your breaths and the slight limp in your strides. Do you think you are in a proper state to fight in this competition?"

Fenris' words were brutal, but Lupe knew she was done for. She didn't know why she hid it, hoping maybe no one would notice and no one in the fights would strike her there. She had hoped the wound would have gone away, sealed up properly by the time of the fights but she knew that wouldn't happen now. It was still unbelievably saw and easily exploitable. Despite the harshness of his words, she knew Fenris meant no harm. Mainly the reason he had mentioned it where they were, out of hearing from Rendall.

Lupe just lay there, one hand over her mouth and other clenched over her wound, trying to cut off blood to it to numb the pain. She didn't know what to do. It wasn't just the loss of the tournament. She knew what lay on her shoulders with these fights. Now... now she didn't know what to do.

As she was lost in her own little world, a pair of hands were gently placed on her shoulders. Thinking it was Fenris, she looked up, staring directly into the deep blue eyes of Tails as he stared down at her rather feeble form.

"You didn't have to make your point so forcefully." Tails said, his attention on Fenris.

"My apologies. Any other way and I would have thought she might have taken it as a challenge. After the outburst from Rendall, I didn't think of any other way to make my point across."

Tails just shook his head as he turned back to Lupe. "You OK?" He asked softly.

Lupe just stared down, unable to meet his gaze, just meekly nodded as he helped her to her feet.

"So, what happens now?" Tails asked, to both Lupe and Fenris.

"I am afraid our packs traditions are very strict in this manner. If an enemy has a weakness, exploit it. I won't go easy on her if we fight" Fenris answered honestly.

Lupe just kept staring down, still pride stricken at her weakness. Tails however just mused. He knew just from measuring them both up that Fenris would probably win against Amaguk. So Lupe's chances were... nonexistent.

"There is another way however" Fenris followed.

Tails and Lupe both stared.

"You may still choose someone else at this time to take your place. The only problem is, that as the proceedings have already begun, all leaders must back the decision."



Tails just stared and looked back to Lupe hopefully.

"If you do take this option, I will only allow one person to take your place" Fenris continued.

"Who?" Lupe asked weakly.

Fenris nodded to Tails. "Him"

Tails looked startled as he looked back and forth between Lupe and Fenris. "Me?"

"Yes. From the look of your other members, I doubt any other will be able to meet the challenge. You strike me as different. So I will follow my instincts"

"Doesn't that mean you will just make the tournament harder for yourself? What about that "exploit your enemies weakness" thing of yours?" Tails asked curiously.

Fenris just shook his head. "I have my reasons. It is your choice to follow my advice however." And with that, Fenris turned around and made his way back to the clearing.

Tails looked back to Lupe as he settled her down against a tree.

"...Well?" Lupe asked, still not meeting eye contact.

"Well what?" Tails asked back.

"Are you about to start your rant about endangering your mission?" Lupe asked, fist clenched as her pride once again sank ever further.

Tails just sighed. "Any berating I have can wait till later. But no, I'm not angry. May I ask why you kept your wound to yourself?"

Lupe finally looked up. There was something in the tone of his voice. "You knew?"

Tails just grunted. "I knew that area was playing up for you. I just thought it would heal up for the fights."

Lupe looked down again, just shaking her head. "I'm pathetic. I have one chance to make all that training and fighting count, and simple pride and a thick head ends it all"

"Ends it all?" Tails asked.

"Do you think Rendall will let me run out of it? He will never allow the switch over. He wants to put me in my place to much... damn I'm a fool" She said, hands on the sides of her head.

Tails lowered himself and placed his hand lightly on her chin. As he turned her head to meet his, he spoke lightly. "Let me handle that" he spoke confidently.



It was not long after Fenris had returned that Tails and Lupe followed behind. Lupe however was now being supported by Tails as they walked slowly into the clearing. Before the other leaders could ask about her condition, Lupe spoke out, "I am unfit to hold the rank of leader for this tournament. Cable will be taking my place during the fights if I have the leaders support."

There was a thick silence over the clearing before Rendall burst out laughing. "Why am I not surprised? Why might I ask is the reason for such a decision? Slightly bad back?" He mocked.

Fenris however calmly said, "I support her replacement" He turned to Amaguk for his decision.

Despite being put back, he casually replied. "I see no reason for such a decision"

"Well I do" Rendall spat. "I will not have her run away from her punishment. Typical women, unable to commit to your miserable endeavours.

Fenris however calmly spoke out before a shouting match commenced again. "Rendall, as I am aware, your packs main mantra is "A cowards only use is food and a good chase". Your actions, if I might be so bold, might be viewed upon as fear"

Rendall instantly shot around and snarled at Fenris. "How DARE you! I hold no fear for this maggot"

Tails, realising he now had one shot, jumped in and challenge, "That seems to be the case. If not then prove it. If I am not worth the effort, then simply test me. I'll take any challenge you offer me that can be done here and now"

Rendall sneered. He knew he was trapped. Backing out now would be a desperate blow to his honour, especially with his clan behind him.

"Fare enough. If we must. If you want to fight in your leaders place, then you must fight my second in command" He spoke as he nodded to one of the wolfs standing close behind him. As he second came forward, Tails realised just what a giant he was, towering above even Amaguk. He smiled threateningly as he cracked his fingers.

Tails nodded, actually grateful for such a challenge. Though he had all the martial arts knowledge he could care for, he had almost no actual fighting experience against live opponents. This would make good experience in applying his knowledge up front.

As Tails stepped forward and the wolves around him cleared away into a tight circle around the to competitors, Rendall quickly added. "There is however one handy-cap you must take. Boras here is mostly specialized in weapons based combat. So he will be using a sword for this fight. You must use only what you have on hand."

Tension rose as a few of the wolves called out for the unfairness of it. Tails however knew he couldn't back down. Not now. So he stood where he was as Boras took his enormous bastard sword from his back and theatrically smashed it on the ground infront of him, shattering the dirt and rock easily.

As Tails casually stretched in preparation, he saw Sonic make his way to him from around the circle.

"Hey, you sure about this?" He called out.

"Positive. Don't worry. I'll be fine and ready to stomp your arse tomorrow as planned" Tails happily replied, toothy grin flashing back.

Though Sonic still looked worried, he knew he really didn't have much to say on such matters like these, though Tails could tell by his stance he was ready to jump in as soon as a lethal blow was thrown and it didn't look like Tails could avoid it.

With no more needing to be said and both fighters ready, a simple hand single from Rendall caused both fighters to erupt. But whereas Boras erupted like a volcano, giving a mighty shout and running in, in the style of a brawler, Tails erupted into a flurry of smooth and precise attacks.

The fight at first looked rather one sided. With Boras making mighty swings with his enormous sword, it seemed only a matter of time till he made contact. But as Tails weaved between the strikes and shot into his defence over and over, delivering a serious of light gabs and kicks, it seemed obvious that he was playing with him. Throughout the fight, whilst the sword wielder had a scowl imprinted on his face, few could not notice Tails playful grin.

In the end, the fight was laughably short. After Tails seemed to stop messing around, after one mighty swing from Boras' sword, Tails jumped up and landed with his hand on Boras' head. As he balanced there, waving to the crowd with his free hand, the wolf grit his teeth and prepared to swat Tails off. Before he could move though, Tails twisted his body and, with both his legs on either side of Boras' head, slammed them together in a scissor motion. Whatever strength the strike had, adding with the condition the wolf was in from the previous blows, Boras fell in an ungraceful heap. Tails however landed gracefully, grin still in place as he looked back to Rendall. He knew what the stakes were in this tournament, but he knew he would enjoy that fight when it came.

The crowd of Low moon and White Fang wolves erupted, a few of his clan members jumping up and raising his hand like he had won a boxing match. He noticed Rendall and his lot just walking away, the look on his face did not bode well for his second in command when he awoke. Fenris however appeared to have already left, during the fight. Either too boring for him or he knew the outcome already, guessed Tails as dealt with the matter at hand. He was now, technically, until the tournament ended, the White Claw leader. With the looks on some of the wolves around him, he knew he would have to win over his clan members soon if he was to keep any sense of order around.

It did not take long for the Low Moon clan, after giving a hearty goodbye, disappeared into the darkness towards their own living quarters. Sonic and Sally left soon after them, but not before Sally giving a very surprising offer.

"I'll be honest with you" Sally said to both Lupe and Tails. "I am hoping for you to win this tournament. We need the wolf pack unified and though I also trust the Low Moon clan, the other two I am not so sure about"

Lupe nodded. She knew what she was getting at. "Cable is completely trust worthy. Please take my word on this, Princess"

Sally nodded. Lupe almost never called her Princess unless she was deadly serious. "Fine, I won't bring your loyalty to question, Cable" She said turning to Tails. "But in that fight, your moves, though well deployed, seemed a little stiff. You don't have much practice with real life sparing do you?"

Ever the analyser, Tails thought. "Not as much as I would like to." He replied honestly.

"Well, with whatever style you were taught, you did use it well. I might suggest you put it to use in practice. If you want, I can offer myself as your sparring partner during your free time"

Tails, with Lupe and even Sonic were taken back. "Well, I don't know what to say. Yes, that would be fantastic, if it wouldn't be much trouble."

Sonic though looked concerned. "You sure, Sal? I don't want you getting hurt."

Sally just smirked. "We do far more dangerous activities at night Sonic"

As Sonic grinned back, Tails, knowing he would regret not taking advantage of his ignorant character and Sally's choice words, said "Ow, I didn't know you two were in item"

Lupe tried hard to contain her laughter as Sally and Sonic, after a few seconds confusion, turned scarlet red. Whilst Sonic tried to remain inconspicuous to hide his blush, Sally tried to drown in out with anger.

"THAT'S...that's not what I meant!" She spluttered. She shook her head quickly in hopes to regain some composure. "We will meet early tomorrow, 9-ish should do. Meet me out in the small clearing behind my hut" And with that, she turned and walked away, obviously still embarrassed.

Atleast now, Tails mused as he laughed lightly, he knew Sally's one weakness. Beyond the hardened warrior, she was easy to tease. So was Sonic, it seemed, on such matters.

Lupe just gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. "That was unnecessary" she said, still trying to hold her laughter.

"Yes it was." Tails purred with charm. "It brought your mood up"

Lupe just smiled. Originally, she didn't know what to think. She should be angry at Tails for taking her position without a word being said from her. But, she did feel so disappointed with herself for continuing on, knowing she probably would lose the fights in her condition, using Tails prediction as an excuse not to give up. But in the end, it didn't matter to her. Not now. She would still be needed to keep order to her pack, and Tails now would just be using his strength more constructively.

"How do you feel about Sally's offer" Lupe asked.



"Really? Confused. Sally is supposed to remain impartial in all of this. I don't know why she offered... but deep down, I am excited. I've never really seen Sally fight and the chance to spare with her, on equal ground. Never really fought I'd have the chance"

Lupe titled her head in confusion. "Why not? You may be young now, your other self I mean, but at some point..."

Tails just shook his head sadly. "I know Sally. 10, 20, 50 years even, from now, and she still wouldn't have the heart to give me a real fight. Even if I wanted to."

Tails shook his body like a dog trying to dry his fur, a way he used to relieve stress. "I need a bit of time to myself. Mind if I go out for a walk, to clear my head?"

Lupe just smiled as she turned. "I'll sort things out here and explain it all to the others. Take your time"

Tails flashed a grin as he turned and practically ran out the clearing. Though a good run let Sonic relieve any stress he had, Tails preferred a simple jog. He didn't need the violent forces that pushed against him when running at full pelt to clear his head.

As he reflected, it seemed, even on his 1st day, he had no end of incidents and problems occurring. Maybe it was that time effect Tempest mentioned that was creating all these events, Tails mused as he gently ran around the edge of the village. Maybe it was because he was still a child at the time and such stressful events passed him by while he was peacefully asleep, but now that he was in the thick of it, he could tell why Sonic loved his action packed lifestyle.

Even with all the stress filled events the day offered and the promise that those were only the start, Tails could already tell that the day had been a good one. But with all good things that happened, there always seemed to be some tragedy that balanced it all out. Some terrible occurrence that made you feel empty inside. Atleast that was Tails philosophy when growing up, though the good events seemed to be in short supply at the time.

And as Tails predicted, and he made his second and last trip around the village, he heard the distinctive voice, yelling in the wind, "Abomination!"

Not just 5 minutes after Rendall had arrived back at his living area, and he prepared the monotonous rights for new born cubs entering into the pack, he was welcomed by the sleeping and serene face... of a baby Hybrid.

In Mobian culture, cross species marriage was not very uncommon. Infact it was medically encouraged in most events. When two different species of Mobian came together, generally the cubs would grow up either as one species or another. It was something in their genetics that when producing a baby, the genes of the offspring would revert to either one or the other parent's basic genetic template. It was not unexpected to see a lion and dog walk hand in hand with a litter of both lion and dog cubs about, instead of a pack of mutant cross breeds. The birth of a hybrid child was very rare. And despite popular believe, it could occur with either mixed or same species couples.



On average, if a mixed species couple produced a baby, the baby would be born as either one parent or the other, species wise. But, one in roughly 1500 children born this way can be born hybrids. Hybrids were like gems in Mobian society. When a hybrid was born, it did not promise a freakish monster mutation between the species, like a dog/shark or rabbit/dragon. When a hybrid was born, it was when both genes that the parents had, relating to species, were negated and the child was born a new species. In all Mobians lay the genetic information for all species, buried deep within them. So in the case of a hybrid, the genetic information buried at the core of both parents was mixed and muddled and formed a new genetic strain. Because of this, it was possible for, say, a cat and dog to mate and produce a sub species of gerbil. Though sometimes difficult for the couple to deal with at first, Mobian Society shined on such gifts. They kept the gene pool clean and constantly moving.

That was the main reason such marriages were encouraged. It was however, possible to produce a hybrid through same species mating. The only difference was though, that the chances grew from 1/1500 to 1/150000. In other words, extremely rare.

But now, infront of Rendell was one of these miracles. A beautiful baby leopard, with a stunning early coat already grown. It's tail was far longer than the average leopard and it's ears far more pointier. But despite all this, in the wolf pack, atleast in the Dark Eyes section, such thing was labelled as one thing.

"ABOMINATION!!" Rendall cried, holding the young cub by the scruff of its neck as he held it to the rest of the pack.

The parents of the young child were being held by some of the larger members of Rendall's core pack.

They screamed and begged for the child to be released, but all cries fell to death eyes. Rendall had already had a very bad evening so far, and even if he would have been in the mood normally to show some lenience, that was not to be tonight.

"You dare bring this...MONSTROSITY into the world!?" He roared, facing the crying child in his arms towards the couple.

"PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T HURT HIM!!" The female cried, tears streaking down her face.

"Please, we'll do anything! We'll even donate him to the orphanage in Knothole! Just please don't do anything to him" The male pleaded.

Rendall just spat. "And have this..._thing_ alive? Proof of your, our mistake?"

Rendall had had enough. He waved his arms so the wolves around him moved away, forming a tight semi-circle around him. The parents still infront of him, just along the edge of the half ring of wolves. Around him lay the freshly fallen snow that the day had provided. Though not a blizzard, it did leave a nice thick layer of snow in some of the untrodden areas of the village. With atleast some care, Rendall carefully took the baby leopard in both hands, knelt down, and placed him in the snow.

The parents, still confused, looked up into Rendall's cold eyes.

"It should take around 1 hour for the cold to kill the child. It shall die a slow death for its parents mistake."

The parents erupted with screams, both struggling against their captors. With a quick snapped of his head, the wolves covered the screaming couples mouths with cloth.

"We shall wait here. All of us. We shall all bear witness to this mutants demise as a message. We will keep our blood strong, and unpolluted. All weak blood shall be spilled."

"YOU SHALL DO NO SUCH THING!!" Came the harsh and truly blood curdling scream from beyond the clearing.

As the remaining muscular wolves moved infront, along side their leader, Sally, in such a fury that neither Sonic or Tails ever thought possible, came up to meet him.

"IF YOU DO NOT PICK THAT CHILD UP I WILL PERSONALLY HAVE YOU THROWN OUT OF KNOTHOLE!!" Sally roared.

"Under what authority? You? This is our land, now anyway" Rendell replied, casually, enjoying the site of Sally angry in such a way. "Remember? Anything that happens in this area, is our business. Our rules. Our Law. You have no place questioning them"

Sally, having had enough moved to take the baby, but the wolves infront proved a solid wall. "You would let such an act take place? You would murder a new born child?!" She asked, as if talking to a person in a straight jacket.

"Our customs, dear Princess" Rendell said, over the muffled cries of the couple behind him. "They are our traditions. You have no right to tell us they are _wrong_" He mocked.

Sally grit her teeth. She didn't care if she had to create a civil war over this. This was Monstrous!

It was only then, over the cries and weeps of the parents, that one sound could no longer be heard. The crying of the child had stopped. Rendell, assuming the cold had hit the baby early, turned to see Tails, carefully cradling the child in his arms, rubbing them against the baby to get rid of the snow and bring warmth to the child.

"You will put that child down NOW!" Rendall commanded, as all warriors, save for those holding the couple advanced on the loan two tailed wolf/fox.

"Or what? You'll fight me with diplomacy?" And with that, Tails disappeared, shooting up snow as his form vanished into thin air.

Just as the confusion sank into the surrounding wolves, Rendall noticed Tails calmly standing next to Sally, just a few yards away.

"You will" Rendall forced through his closed and almost frothing mouth, "Return that cub and LEAVE!"



Tails however didn't seem to notice Rendall's outburst. Both he and Sally were too busy seeing to the cub. After Sally offered her vest to blanket the poor child, Tails carefully wrapped the baby up, still tight in his arms, until he was sure little cold could reach him. The child seemed to have fallen asleep through all this, and Tails didn't know whether to take that as a good or bad thing.

"I think he's OK, at the moment" Tails said, trying to reassure a slightly anxious squirrel.

Rendall, having had enough, nodded his head to 5 of his guards to assault Tails. As the towering beasts walked forward, and Sally seemed ready to strike back, she found the cub being gently but forcefully placed in her hands. The second she had the child safely in her hands, adjusting to make sure the cub's head was supported, there was the familiar rush of wind and uplift of snow as Tails disappeared and reappeared infront of Rendall.

The guards, who had been moving between the two, simultaneously fell neatly to the floor. Rendall, though keeping his ground, had to stop himself from flinching from the gaze Tails cast upon him. Tails really looked ready to kill, and despite his overwhelming confidence in his and his men's abilities, he now genuinely didn't think he could win in a fight right now. Atleast not when he was in this furious mood.

"Since we've met, you have done NOTHING but hide behind protocol and rules to keep you safe! Now it's time to back your words" Tails spat, now nearly an inch away from Rendall.

"What? Fight here like some unruly beasts? In my own home?" Rendall asked, his voice finally returning to him.

"We fight for the child... tomorrow. The child will be the stakes" Tails said firmly.

Rendall just grinned. "Stakes? I would be a pretty poor gambler if I only bet for things I ALREADY own. That child is mine by rights"

"Really?" asked Tails, as he turned back to Sally.

"Could you move back a few paces, Sally?" He asked.

Sally, though confused, did as he asked, moving back 4 steps.

Tails grinned to Rendall. "Now he's not. He's outside of your area, and onto Knothole ground. He's under their laws now."

Rendall though still smiled. He wasn't going to be beaten at his own game. "And their laws state he is mine, by rights. Diplomatic-"

"And I'm sure, under proper proceedings" Tails said, in a patronisingly official voice. "That your complaint can be dealt with after you fill in all necessary forms, wait for the court order to be dealt with. Then, once in the hands of the courts, you can plead your case and then the jury, given sufficient time, will give a verdict... yes. You may get your child, if you want to play the political game... but in time..."

Rendall snarled. "I have time. Win or lose I can waste it on this."

"Or, as I said, we can let the fight decide" Tails said, smiling.

"As I said, I won't gamble for something I-"

"Then I'll sweeten the deal. 1 Minuet" Tails snapped.

"1 minuet, what?" Rendall snapped back, the distance between the two getting shorter and shorter.

"You can have 1 minuet. 1 minuet where I won't defend, run, attack...do anything at all. We stick to the normal rules but in that time, I'm all yours" Tails said, flourishing his arms as he offered himself as a prize.

Rendall mused. After what he had just seen... a chance like that would defiantly be worth it. All he would need, infact. But still.

"I wish to make two additions to this wager" Rendall sneered. "One. You are to have your tails tied. Any attempt to untie them yourself during the fight, and you are disqualified."

Rendall was not a fool. He had seen "Cable" when he suddenly vanished and reappeared in a gust of wind. Both his tails flickered just before he moved. Atleast that way he could limit him, just in case.

"And your second rule?" Tails asked

"After the minuet is up, the fight revolves to a death match. No rules, except the previous one. What say you?"

Tails just grunted with the nod of his head as he turned.

Rendall smile could have melted the ice around him in its victorious glow. He quickly added. "Though the rules of our fight shall remain, the child reverts to me..." he turned to the parents. "...if either of you two make any attempt to contact him. Understood"

The couple just nodded meekly, as the gags were removed and the guards backed away.

Tails grit his teeth to try and drown out the anger. Not the fresh new anger he had felt towards Rendall, after finding out what sort of person he was. The old anger. The old rage that bellowed inside of him, that he once saved purely to engulf Robotnick. Despite what he might have thought, making the fight into a death match had probably been the most foolish mistake of Rendall's life.

So, as Rendall turned away, returning to what Tails presumed was his hut, he turned back to the matter at hand. The baby. Still nestled up in Sally's arms, Tails knew they needed to get him to someone, quickly. He had been far too quite during the shouting to be completely fine.

"Do you know anyone who can take him?" Tails asked, though already knew the ideal person that could deal with him.



"Yes, I think so." Sally said, turning and making her way along one of the many paths through Knothole.

As Tails ran alongside her, he said, "Pass me the child. I'm still warm from my running and my fur is thicker than yours."

Sally complied, stopping temporarily to hand the child over to Tails as she took off to a run again, with Tails following close behind.

No more than a minute running did they come up to their destination. Infront of them was the largest hut the village provided for the Freedom Fighters. It had 2 floors to it, which on its own was rare and looked well cared for. Very homely, Tails would say, if asked to describe it. All lights were off, but despite that, Sally rigorously knocked on the door, not caring who she had to wake up to get who she wanted.

They heard some child like voices, quite and indistinct. And then fumbling on the door as whatever lock it had was being undone. As soon as the sound diminished, the door opened to revealed a tired looking elderly chipmunk, in a plain sensible gown. A pair of small spectacles were adorned on her face as she adjusted them to get a good look at who had stirred her.

"Ow, yes who is it?" She asked, obviously still rather fuzzy from being suddenly woken up.

"Rosie. We really need your help, please" Sally said urgently.

As soon as Rosie gazed upon Sally, she turned to who she was referring to, the small cub being held by Tails.

She quickly beckoned them in, not asking any questions as she took the child from Tails and started checking the little leopard over.

"What happened? How old is-" Rosie asked.

"No more than 20 minutes" Tails answered quickly.

"Really? I was not aware of any Leopards in Knothole, especially not a couple" Rosie said, satisfied with her check and quickly wrapping the cub into some thick and fluffy towels.

"He's a hybrid." Tails Answered again.

"Really?" Rosie beamed. "Why that's wonder-" She paused from the looks on their faces. "May I ask what is going on?"

It didn't take them long to explain, giving all the details on Rendall, the incidents of only 5 minutes ago, and how they feared the cub could have hypothermia.

Rosie's face contorted into a look of utter horror. "HE DID..." She composed herself, stopping herself from waking the baby. "He did what?" Rosie repeated, appalled then anyone could even be capable of such an act.



"Left him in the snow to die" Sally spat, her fingers clenched so hard, Tails could make out the white skin under her coat. "Is he alright?"

Rosie stared back down at the child resting in her arms. "Ow yes. The cold won't have any lasting effects on him. A good night's sleep should be all he'll need... dear lord. Not even an hour old and already involved in acts of such atrocity. You poor thing" She said, holding the cub closer to her, and rocking him gently.

Sally, upon being finally reassured as to the cub's safety, turned to Tails. "I can't thank you enough for what you did."

"Nothing anyone else wouldn't have done." Tails replied, also relieved at the cubs safety.

"Pish" Rosie shot. "You both did something wonderful tonight. If neither of you had been passing... I... I don't really want to think what would have happened."

Sally nodded and turned to the door just beyond them. "I hope I didn't wake too many of them"

Rosie kindly shook her head. "No need to worry. The children, though little angels are like rocks when sleeping."

Sally laughed quietly whilst Tails just looked down at the table.

"What's wrong dear?" Rosie asked.

"It's nothing, just... I wish I could have asked the parents before we left what his name was..." Tails murmured, looking back at the child.

"Um, yes. Such a shame. Not just for the little one, but for the parents aswell. I can't imagine what it would be like, after what just happened to them. I hope we can reunite them with their child..." Rosie said with a sigh.

Sally nodded and turned back to Rosie. "I know it's short notice but could you look after him for a while?"

Rosie just laughed. "Sally, I taught you better then to ask foolish questions. Of course. It would give me no greater pleasure then to offer atleast some peace to this poor little thing"

"It's not just that" Tails said, interrupting Rosie's musings. "If it's possible, please keep the cub's existence here a secret. Bet or not, we can't let Rendall get his hands on the child"

Sally nodded. Despite everything, they both knew Rendall had the legal edge and despite being inside a small village with its own community and rules, Rendall could cause some major, if not irreversible, problems if he wanted. They didn't even put giving Robotnick Knothole's location above the monster. So, it was best to keep things quiet and hope for the best in the match.

Then it struck Sally. "Are you really going to kill him?"



Tails remained silent for a moments before answering. "In all honesty... I really don't know. I'm not worried about the challenge. I can deal with that but... the death match... I don't even know if I CAN let him live."

Sally just shook her head. "I don't feel I have the right to pass judgement on him but... I don't want blood spilled on village ground..."

Rosie at this point, added. "But you will, my dear"

Sally looked curiously at Rosie as she gently shook her head. "You will end up having to pass judgement on some, dear. Even if the sentence is death... it was a task your father held with much distain... but he still did his duty... a duty one day you will have to carry on."

Sally looked down cast. "I know that... I know I'm an idealist, to the point of naivety but... it's a trait of mine I wouldn't trade for anything. Is that greedy of me, Rosie?"

Rosie smiled her warm and caring smile that both Tails and Sally were both very familiar with. "My dear. An attitude like that does do you justice. Of course it doesn't make you greedy, not wanting to deal in death..."

Sally smiled, before standing up. "I'm sorry to go but we both need to be up early tomorrow" She said, addressing Tails. "Your fight has far too much running on it for you to slack or be too tired for it when the time comes"

Tails nodded and moved to Rosie. "Thank you" He said, lightly bowing.

Whilst his head was lowered, with her free hand, she gently took his head and lightly kissed him on the cheek.

"No, thank you. You saved a young ones life today, at great person cost. You did a wonderful thing" She said, lightly hugging a mildly surprised Tails.

And so it went that both Sally and Tails gave their goodbyes to Rosie, still remaining quite for the sake of the child housed inside Rosie's home and the cub in her arms, and disappeared off into the darkness.

As they walked together, both heading to their own homes which shared the same path, it went to Sally to break the silence.

"I guess you're wondering why she had so many children in the back" Sally stated.

Tails, who was mussing off in his own little world, had forgotten about his act completely. "Ow yes. There did seem to be quite a few I heard..."

Sally smiled and stared off infront of her. "Rosie effectively runs the Knothole orphanage. She takes in any children without parents and raises them. She really is a wonderful person"

"I gathered that by just looking at her" Tails added, trying to remain as truthful as possible. "She seemed very open... and warm."



Sally nodded in agreement. "Yes. She practically raised most of the starting Freedom Fighters of Knothole... I don't know where we'd be without her"

Tails nodded, knowing, despite his own person knowledge on Rosie, he shouldn't join in on Sally's musings. To her, he was just a stranger. One that should know what great things this person he had encountered for the first time, had achieved.

So soon, with few words exchanged, they made their separate ways, each heading to their own beds/walls to spend away the night time.

As Tails stepped into the clearing, now pitch black and lifeless, he quickly made his way to Lupe's hut, trying to make as little noise as possible. He really didn't want to deal with any questions on what he had been up to on his runs, which could be saved for tomorrow. He jumped into the hut on the very edge, slid inside and was greeted with the rhythmic sounds of Lupe's gentle breathing. She was sleeping, contently.

That saved some problems, Tails thought as he leaned down, grabbed his pillow and tried to make himself comfortable.

A few minutes passed as he found himself stirring, trying to find an idle position but knew it was futile. His mind was still a maze of activity, and one thing kept pestering him. After one final attempt, hoping to shut out the raising urge, he jumped up and made his way to Lupe's bedside table.

He opened the top draw and rummaged around until he found what he was after. He removed it, shut the door and turned on the small bedside lamp resting on the table. The light beamed down upon the cover of the book.

_Wolf Lore_

As Tails skipped through the pages, he found what he wanted. He read on, hunting down for anything he could use... until he found something.

Yes, Tails though. That might work.

"Yes, it will work" He said out loud, shutting the book triumphantly, he short quest already dealt with.

Just as he was about to get up, after putting the book away and head for some well deserved sleep... he felt something.

He turned to see one of his tails caught firmly on something, the darkness obscuring the object in question. As he leant over and turned the light back on, the light beamed on the still sleeping face of Lupe, holding his tail fiercely like a precious stuffed animal.

"...Ow God" Moaned Tails.


	10. Chapter 9

_Present (3 Days to go)_

In the early hours of the morning, as the fresh breeze and light filled the hut from the open window, Lupe's rest finally came to an end. As sleep left her and the vivid dreams she had just had started melting away from her memory, she felt...off.

As Lupe opened her eyes and prepared to stretch to remove any early morning grogginess, her eyes met with Tails. He was completely awake, staring directly at her, resting in her bed, under the covers.

The surprise of such an encounter would have justified a violent reaction from her, but Lupe was too shocked to even lash out for such an act of indecency. So, as the initial shock wore off, and from the strange irritated look from Tails, she knew it was up to her to ask the first question.

"What are you doing in my bed?" She ask, with a subtle hint that the wrong answer would easily bring on heavy violent actions, tournament be damned.

"Could you let go now?" Tails asked back.

As Lupe looked confused for a second, her eyes went down and her arms came up from below the sheets holding something. When the covers were gone, she could see she was holding tightly onto a large, fluffy white tipped, grey tail.

She looked questionable at Tails but just as she let go of Tails name sake, he jumped out the bed and delicately held his tail.

"Awww...awww" He silently whined, as blood flow, after an entire night of crushing, finally came to his tail.

"What my I ask were you doing in my bed?" Lupe asked again, holding he covers up, over her naked body as she sat up.

"Think I had a choice in the matter?" Tails asked, irritably. "I was at your bedside last night reading your book of wolf lore, then, for some reason, you grabbed my tail and made out like it was a stuffed teddybear. I tried for nearly an hour to pry it loose..."

Lupe looked suspicious at Tails, still not getting over the fact he had spent the night in her bed.

"You could have woken me" She replied

"Lupe... you are practically the definition of the term "hard sleeper". I tried everything except pouring water over you"

Lupe still didn't look totally convinced, until fresh memories of her dream last night came to surface. It was lucky Tails' back was turned, or he would have seen Lupe gone practically scarlet in the face.

Tails though, just focused on his tails, had a sad look on his face.

"God, I think it's bent" He said, as he rubbed it to try and get feeling back to it. Having the entire night with his tail giving him pins and needles constantly had gotten immensely irritating.

Lupe shook herself as she got out of bed and put on the spare clothes she had next to her dresser. "OK, if those were the conditions, I'm sorry."

Tails looked upon Lupe with shock. He'd be the first to admit he didn't know much about women, but even he knew that what he had done, even under the circumstances had been a major taboo. He'd been hoping throughout the night to end any arguments on a "both sides at wrong" and hope that they would both let it go.

"It's OK. I should have tried to sleep off the edge of the bed..." Tails muttered.

Lupe smiled as she finished strapping her boots on and walked over to Tails. "This is an important day for you. Having a good night sleep was important." She lifted Tails chin. "We won't say anymore about it" and with that, she leaned forward and lightly pecked him on the cheek. Just as quickly as Tails registered what she had done, she had already gotten up and walked out into the clearing.

His ears perked up and his cheeks bloomed red. That was... not what he had expected.

After Tails had gotten over the initial shock, and let his blush disappear, he prepared himself. The pack out there, now eating breakfast , was technically his to command. He had no idea how to handle this and he had a pretty good idea that they didn't either.

OK, should I make a plan, like Sally would do? Tails asked himself. Or wing it... like Sonic.

Since Tails wasn't really the plan ahead type of person anymore, he decided Sonic's approach would be far more suitable.

So, mind now prepared, Tails wondered out of the hut and was met with a beautiful bright sunny day, with the air fresh and slightly warm. Surprising considered the snow they had just encountered yesterday.

The clearing was full, with all the wolves devouring breakfast, though Tails noticed most had already finished and had stuck around... I wonder what for, Tails thought to himself sarcastically.

So, Tails walked forward, bringing all attention onto him as he stepped up to the wolf surviving breakfast and asked for a portion.

As he was handed a plate of eggs and toast, and sat down next to Lupe, a silence descended upon the clearing. No one ate, and all eyes were upon Tails. But he knew any attempt to start out, what would be a debate, would just seem like he had accepted being leader...which he hadn't. So, as all eyes burned into him, Tails simple scooped up one of his eggs, placed it onto his piece of toast and started to eat.

The situation would have been rather comical for anyone passing to see roughly 30+ wolves all staring at one, as he happily ate his meal without noticing. The uncomfortable atmosphere started to get more tense as the wolves, as a collective, didn't know what to do. None of them seemed to bring up the courage to confront "Cable".

It was only when Tails had finished his eggs, and was moving to put his plate down, did finally one of the wolves break and step forward and ask. "Would our leader want another portion?"

As Tails looked up into the wolf's burning eyes and turned around at his crowd, as if only just noticing, did he finally speak. "Leader?" He asked.

"I'm not about to waste time on such a pointless conversation" The wolf said, eyes narrowing. "We want to know what happened last night and why, of all people, were you chosen to be our leader"

As Lupe looked ready to speak, a quick look from Tails told her to hold back for the moment.

"OK, I'll put this straight and simple so we don't all get confused on this matter" Tails said, as he rose and met eye to eye with the wolf infront of him.

He turned to the rest of the crowd. "Who here thinks they can lead this pack? Hands up, anyone" he asked, looking around the pack.

After a few seconds silence with not a single wolf moving, Tails continued. "I thought not... And incase anyone didn't notice...my hand's not raised!"

The sudden raw, aimed at the wolf standing infront of him, caused the wolf to nearly trip over, as he sat down quickly. Something in the voice just stuck deep, sucking any bravado away in an instant.

Tails looked around at the pack, his friendly expression now gone, replaced with one of anger and inpatients. "Though she might not have either, Lupe is your leader. Not me. I don't care what the rules state, she is still your leader, you still follow her, and I'm still at the bottom of the pecking order. The fact Lupe is not in a condition to fight changes none of that. The only reason I was picked to take up her position, OFFICIALLY, was not because of my leadership skills or my winning personality. It's because I probably punch and kick harder and faster than most of you here, right now. That's it. Anyone wanting to challenge me in THAT area, are free to. Anything else, you'd be better off asking Rendall for guidance and strong leadership" The end of his speech did get some light chuckling.

"And as for you..." Tails said, turning upon the wolf who had originally questioned him. "Yeah, a couple more slices of toast would go down a treat" He added lightly, causing whatever tension the camp still had to disappear as most of the wolves lightly laughed at Tails, relatively poor but friendly joke.

As Tails sat down, as he was, surprisingly, given another portion, Lupe gently nudged Tails.

"You sell yourself short. You sounded like a leader then" Lupe commented.

"A quick speech, maybe I can do. Actually leading, I still think I'll leave to you" Tails playfully replied.

It was only when conversations started picking up again that Tails remembered the events of last night.

"I better go check on the baby soon" Tails muttered, mostly to himself. The problem was not only had Lupe just heard his comment, so did one of the nosier wolves sitting close to Tails.

"Ow, what's this. Our new champion already a farther? Who's the lucky girl?" he said, just loud enough for most of the wolves to hear.

As Tails looked awkwardly around, noticing, once again, he was in the spot light. Lupe's questioning eyes were on him aswell.

"I'm not a father. It's just a child I found last night that I gave to Rosie to look after" Tails said, hoping that would end any annoying questions he might have to face. No such luck.

"Found a child? What on Mobius are you talking about? This is Knothole. You don't just find children around who don't already have some place of residence" One of the wolves asked.

Tails sighed. Though he hated doing so, the story might distract any of the wolves who weren't so convinced by Tails speech just now.

"OK, last night, whilst running, after the meeting, I passed the Dark Eye clan..." and Tails gave a rundown on what happened last night. When he was finished, not face could be seen that didn't looked appalled.

"That... BASTARD!" One of the younger wolves shouted out, causing the wolves around to discuss their views on what happened. That left Tails with Lupe to deal with the incident privately.

"A Deathmatch? Tails... I know-" Lupe began.

"And what would you have done?" Tails snapped back.

"...Probably reacted a lot worse, under the situation" Lupe admitted, once again confusing Tails. It was only when Lupe's head was resting on Tails shoulder, did she continue. "That poor child"

Tails, though unused to such contact, kept his loose posture and replied. "The child should be fine. Rosie is probably the best career in Knothole. He'll be well careered for."

"Still... I wonder how the parents must feel..."

"I was wondering on that... If they want to, and I win... Is there any way in which we could take the parents and the child into the White Claws? I don't trust the child being left alone, even with his parents, inside the Dark Eyes"

Lupe nodded. "I don't see a problem with it... what time is it?" She asked suddenly.

Cilen, who had mostly remained silent till then replied. "9.30"

Tails shot up, startling Lupe who was supported on him. "Sally. I'm late for our sparing"

"Go on, Cable" Lupe said, as she to stood up. "You prepare yourself for the fight tonight. If you want, I can check on the child."

Tails grinned down at Lupe. "That would be great. Thanks Lupe" And with that, and a flick of his tails, he shot off, out of the clearing.

It took Tails 5 minutes to find Sally, standing in the clearing behind her hut. Tails smiled slightly as she stood, arms crossed with her foot tapping. He wondered it she knew she was standing in the exact same way Sonic did when he was impatient.

Sally looked up at him, her posture returning to normal as she saw Tails walk up to her.

"Sorry I'm late." Tails said.

"It's no problem. I only arrived here about 10 minutes ago myself. I thought I would check on the child." She said, taking off her vest.

Tails looked confused just as Sally, noting the look on his face said "I don't want Nichole, my PDA to get damaged. Or my clothes to get sweaty for that matter."

Tails nodded. "Fair enough. How would you like to start?"

"I was thinking of some simple sparing. No using your tails. I want you prepared for your fight with Rendall." Sally replied whilst doing a couple stretches.

"Alright" Tails answered, mimicking Sally's warm up before getting into the basic stance he knew.

The fight began with a series of kicks, punches and grapples, all using minimal force so not to cause any unnecessary injuries. Whilst Tails attacked, Sally would simply block or dodge each attack forcing Tails to keep his attack Pattern. He guessed he could simply over power her but he guessed she was a lot more nimble then she was letting on, so they both kept up roughly the same pace and force in their attacks. Occasionally Sally would go on the offensive though she asked that Tails block and dodge her attacks. After a few minutes of that, she asked that Tails try to counter attack her attacks. This did not last long as the first punch Sally made, he grabbed the underside of her upper arm, twisted himself and Sally before she was on the floor with her arm behind her back and Tails knees on her back to keep her from moving. His other hand had gone for her neck, not putting any force behind his grip but still held on a specific place so to knock out the victim if he decided to squeeze.

"Very good" Sally said, still on the ground.

Tails smiled. This had been fun. Simply mock fighting, with no intent to hurt. And now that he was fighting against someone, instead of a hologram, it was nice to actually apply the things that Nichole had taught him.

He stood up and helped Sally get to her feet. Just as he got back into stance to go again, he noted the serious look she had, as she backed up to her coat. She turned and in one brief motion, pulled from her coat a small laser gun and aimed it at Tails.

"What the?" Tails said, raising his arms automatically. "Sally, what's going on?"

"Sorry about the gun. I really do not like these things but I don't think I have a choice considering how fast you are... now tell me... where did you learn that martial art style?"

_...Ahhhh damn_ Tails thought. He should have guessed that Sally would recognise her own royal martial art, only taught to members of her family.

"As far as I am aware, the only source of that style is in Nichole. She's the one who taught it to me" Sally said, holding up Nichole in her other hand, gun still trained on Tails.

"Isn't this a bit extreme?" Tails asked, hands still in the air.

"The last two people who entered knothole who drew as much attention as you either stole the energy source for our power rings and tried to get Sonic killed for Robotnick. You are too suspicious for me to just let wondering around with all that is at stake."

Tails sighed. His original plan was to draw as little attention as possible and for no one to find out who he was... _guess I failed on both counts_.

"Ok... I'll..." Tails took a deep breath. "I'll tell you where I learnt my style"

Tails dug into the small belt pouch he carried on him and withdraw what remained of Nichole. He slowly held the burnt PDA out for Sally to look at.

Sally's eyes widened but she kept her gun trained on Tails as she took the PDA and examined it, trying to keep the majority of her attention on Tails.

"What's this? Another Nichole? There should be only one" Sally said.

"No... it's not a duplicate...check the serial number" Tails said, hands now down and feeling depressed at what he was about to reveal.

Sally gave a quick glance at the base of Nichole, recognise the serial numbers. "I don't know what that proves. What happened to it?"

"Her" Tails corrected.

"Her... where did you get her and how did this happen?" Sally said again, indicating the burn marks.

Tails gave another tired sigh before going into his other pocket and grabbing the time stone. He carefully handed the half rock over to Sally and stepped back.

At this Sally did not remain silent, gasping at the sight of the object she herself held only half a year prior. "How did you get this?" She said examining the stone carefully.

"Same way you did" Tails said simply.

It was then that Sally looked up and as if Tails could hear the click in her head, lowered the gun, time stone and Nichole.

"...Tails?"

To Tails surprise, despite Sally's obvious surprise at the new sight of an older Tails in front of her, she had wasted no time after that in grabbing him and taking him to her hut. She closed the door and turned to Tails.

"Are you..."

"Yes" Tails said with a mock grin. "It's me"

"But..." Sally looked back down at the time stone. "How far"

"10 years" Tails replied. "I guess... I might aswell start at the beginning."

Tails didn't go into many details. Infact he barely went into any detail for his 10 year life experience. He mentioned the Super Napalm and the information he had learned on it, his meeting with Tempest and that was it.

When he finished with what happened last night, Sally slumped into her chair, breathing hard.

"It can't be... 3 days? 3 days until... the apocalypse?" Sally said, starting at the ceiling.

She then turned back to Tails. "And you. Oh Tails, I-"

"Whatever happened to me over the last 10 years... well, it wasn't pleasant" Tails said with a forced grin, hating to shirk off his nightmarish history as something unimportant. "But in the face of what happens to everyone else... you included, it's rather small in comparison."

Sally stared back at Tails, trying to probe for any more details. Tails had kept alot of the story back including the information from Tempest on the consequences on his mission. He had only gone over a basic summery. "There's more to this then what you've said. 10 years between the attack and getting the time stones. What happened?"

"... Alot happened" Tails said

"Well, wha-" Sally begin before Tails interjected. "And I'm not saying anything else"

Sally was taken aback. "Why not?"

Tails put up a hand. "Sally, I'm not going to be here long. I honestly think it would be better if you just consider me a stranger until all this is sorted out, which it will be" He said, trying to make his words sound confident and casual.

This time Sally really was taken back.

"Why won't you tell me more about what happened?" Sally asked. She had only asked out of curiosity and to complete the story Tails had set out. It wasn't that Sally wasn't that interested in what had happened to Tails but in the face of dying in 3 days time, along with almost everyone else in the village, it hadn't been a huge concern. But now, with Tails acting so distant so quickly on the subject, she couldn't help but think there was something wrong with it all.

"Did you tell your past self everything when you went back into the past?" Tails asked during Sally's musings. "Please Sally. I don't want to talk about it and I don't think you want to hear. Really."

"Ok" Sally said, not wanting to push too hard on the matter. "But... I would like to speak to Uncle Chuck. Your Uncle Chuck."

"He's with his past self. Why do you want to talk to him? To check his story?"

"I'm sorry Tails... but I need to be sure. I mean, I barely recognise you"

Sally had only meant it as a complement of sorts. A sort _of My how you've grown_ sort comment. But from the sudden depression that flashed over Tails face, she knew she had said the wrong thing.

"Alright. I can understand that" Tails said, giving off another fixed grin. A sudden thought came to him. "Also, I have a favour. Don't go to the fight tonight"

Sally looked confused. It was only then that she remembered the new rules of the fight. "The deathmatch? Tails... you don't really aim to kill him do you?"

The look Tails gave to her did not give her the answer she wanted. She gave a small laugh. "Tails, I know you. You are not a killer"

"...I killed Robotnick" Tails said. And with that, he left the hut leaving Sally on her own, eyes wide and mouth open.

The afternoon was coming to a close as Lupe entered into her hut. She noticed Tails next to her bed reading the book of Wolf Lore.

"Glad to see you are doing some reading for your role. Considering the amount of attention you have on you, being more versed in our culture would be wise"

Tails just shook his head, still reading the book. "That's not what I'm reading"

Lupe paused and edged closer to see the page over Tails should. Just as she did, Tails carefully put the book down and turned to her.

"Do you know of the rite of mortal conquest?" Tails asked

Lupe shook her head.

"It's the rite only applicable in a deathmatch. The rite is used as an escape for either opponent killing each other."

"Really? How does it work?" Lupe asked.

"It's really very simple. Aslong as the deathmatch is being witnessed to, and both opponents call upon the rite, the match ends right there, on the spot."

"So it's used if both opponents get cold feet" Lupe guessed.

"More then that. The rite can only be called if both opponents are on agreement and for the agreement to happen, one may ask the other opponent for anything under their possession or something they are able to give. Effectively an agreement the loser can offer or the win can ask to settle the fight. It can't end in a draw. One person has to claim to lose and offer a penance."

Lupe nodded. "So you plan on using that on Rendall? I don't know. He may be... well an ass but he is proud. I mean if I have heard correctly he will go through with death to save face from the shame of such an agreement. I don't think only offering to spare him to admit defeat will work"

Tails gave a shrug. "I have my way... It's just not a very honourable way."

Sally waited in her hut, having spent most of the day trying to draw out and finish the current set of plans for Freedom Fighter strikes. But her mind kept going back to Tails. She still couldn't fully take it all in. That person who had stood in front of her no more than 5 hours ago, was Tails' future self... and a future version of him that scared her. He had said he had killed Robotnick. Was Tails really capable of that?

...maybe hers wasn't but whoever stood infront of her before defiantly could. Despite how much she hated such a treacherous thought to going through her head, she really couldn't see any of Tails in... well Tails. When she had seen her past self, along with Sonic's younger version, she could see herself and Sonic in those youths easily. They fit like gloves. But no matter how much she tried, she simply couldn't see it.

She had put forward a request to speak to Chuck earlier. It usually took time for Chuck to find the right moments to setup a live communication between the two of them.

It was as her thoughts were turning ever darker, Nichole rang, signalling that Chuck was able to speak. _Moment of truth_, Sally thought.

As she flipped open the screen, not one but two uncle Chucks appeared on the screen infront of her.

"Hey Uncle Chuck" Sally grinned. "And Uncle Chuck"

"I'm glad Tails was able to speak to you. Having more hands on this problem will be a definite help" Said one of the Chucks.

Sally tried to see if she could tell the two Chucks apart but was unable to. "Which one..."

One of the Chucks laughed. "If it makes it easier, call me Chuck 2.0."

Sally smiled. "Ok, that's makes things easier. Have you got any news?"

"Well" Chuck 1.0 said, "I've checked with the details my older self provided and I have to agree that there is a real danger of that Super Napalm being not only real, but in massive supply. And I don't see any way of stopping its production. From what I've been told, its mostly going to be decided where you are"

Sally sighed. "Well, I will be able to give you some news after tonight's fight. If Tails loses... well, we'll think of something"

"I wouldn't worry. Tails should be fine." Chuck 2.0 said reassuringly.

"Actually, on that subject... Chuck. Could you leave me and Chuck 2.0 to speak for a bit?" Sally asked.

"Sure. I need to do some more reconnaissance" And with that, Chuck left.

"Yes Sally, what is it?" Chuck 2.0 asked, though he could guess what it was.

"Chuck... what happened. To Tails I mean. I mean I know it must have been hard and..." Sally took a breath, trying to structure her thoughts better. "Chuck, I really do not recognise him. He scares me. I mean really scares me. Did he really kill Robotnick?"

"Yes. I didn't see it in person but I saw the footage." Chuck said sombrely.

"Chuck, I can't trust someone like that. I mean... oh god, I can't let my Tails speak with him. I don't want him ending up like-"

"Sally" Chuck cut in, voice no longer quite. "It was those words that scared Tails into coming to the past. Those words from your mouth. I told him you wouldn't judge him like that and to hear those words from your mouth..."

Sally eyes widened in shock at hearing Chuck so ashamed in her. "But... You barely seem different? How could Tails have changed so much?"

"Tails didn't tell you what he went through, did he?" Chuck said

Sally shook her head. "He didn't go into detail."

Chuck signed. "Sally... I don't know the full story. Not all of it. But I know enough that Tails only became who he was out of necessity. The word was not kind to him and the only person who kept him company for that decade died not too long ago. Trust me on this, you would be proud of him... should be proud of him. And the fact is Sally, he's the only one able to stop what happened in our time."

And with that, Chucks signal dissipated and Nichole went blank. _Someone close to him dying? Who?_

Sally looked at the time display on Nichole and realised that the fight would be starting soon. She had been asked to not go, along with Sonic. Sonic at this moment would be with Bunny, doing a simply smash and grab on some supplies Rotor needed.

"... I've never been a good listener" Sally said, as she stood to leave.

Tails was already setup, standing near the middle of the ring, with Rendall standing opposite him. Rendall had already shouted out the new conditions of the fight to many boos from the crowd as Tails confirmed them.

Rendall accepted the boos with that same cocky smile as before. "I expect to get what is mine back by tonight."

"And I expect to win." Tails replied, trying to stretch before the fight began.

Rendall just laughed as he turned to his second in command, the one Tails had beaten before to whisper something.

Tails looked back to Lupe, to try and reassure her, and maybe reassure himself as he saw Sally enter into the ring of wolves and stand beside her. Tails looked away, not wanting to meet eye contact.

_I mean, I barely recognise you_

"No" Tails murmured to himself" "After tonight you really won't"

"Are both contestants ready" Said Rendalls second in command, stepping into the ring to act as initiator.

"Yes" Both Replied at once.

"Then...fight!"

Sally stood there, wincing and flinching as she watched. It was just as Rendall had said, Tails was not to move for a full minute, and Rendall was taking no pity. He was punching and kicking every instant he had. When he knocked Tails down, he just shouted Tails to get up, insulting him as Tails steadily got to his feet.

Sally could see the blood and bruises easily. As she watched Tails getting beaten, she could hear Lupe count.

"20, 21, 22" she whispered.

And all the while, Tails was getting bloodied, over and over. Rendall seemed to be getting annoyed that Tails wasn't going down but he didn't let up on his attacks.

"Come on" Sally said, not able to look up anymore. "Please be over."

"45, 46, 47" Lupe still whispered.

Up in the fight, Rendall had settled on simply punching Tails, over and over again in the face, still taunting him, possibly hoping Tails would react so to end the fight right there. "You. Will. Give. Me. What's mine." Rendall said, punching on each word.

"58, 59, 60!" Lupe yelled. At the same time many other wolves, also counting, shouted out.

And as if nothing had happened over the last minute, Tails reached out, caught Rendall's arm, twisted it and using his leg, kicked up instantly at the joint. There was a noticeable snapping sound throughout the clearing as Rendall jumped back, cradling his broken arm in pain.

Tails didn't waste any time. He walked forward, paying no mind to Rendall's attempt to block him, only breaking the other arm, using both of his in our quick motion.

The crowd gasped at the sudden sickening sound as Rendall's increased screams.

"Right." Tails said, he voice shaky slightly from him minute long beating. "Here's how things will go. You will claim the right on Mortal Conquest. I will claim my price as my win, which is already mine, and the release of those two wolves from last night from your clan. They will be reunited with their child and you will never touch them or see them again"

Rendall stared back, trying vainly to seem like he wasn't in pain, with both his arms hanging loosely being his side "No. You will not break my spirit. They are the packs, whether I die or not. I will not let you-"

Before he could respond, Tails had stepped forward and punched him hard on the head. Unlike the punched from Rendall's, Tails' punch were noticeably more devastating. Rendall fell to the floor and visibly spat out two of his teeth.

"You have lost whatever honour you had just by taking this challenge and loosing. And I'm not holding your death on you. I don't care whether you are not scared of death. I want to know if you are more scared of pain. Real pain."

Rendall tried to back away, still on the floor with bloody dripping down his mouth. Tails turned to the crowd.

"This wolf attempted to kill a new born last night. Tried to kill it in the snow. If you think that sort of action is horrible but not cause enough for me to unleash the pain I'm about to lay on him then think what you will. But I will still do it. Even in a death match, an honourable fight to the death between to opponents I will still use this chance to cause great pain on him. Honestly, do any hold what I am doing against me?"

There was silence. Though Sally looked notably uncomfortable, she remained silent. The other wolves however only stared in disgust at Rendall, no pity in their eyes.

Tails turned back to Rendall. "Like me, I will give you a time limit. Every 30 seconds I will stop and give you a chance to settle the right I have laid down. This is your first chance"

Rendall only looked up in confusion, unable to believe how this fight had turned so much. And that pause had been taken for Tails to be his first chance.

The crowd watch, some turning away at times, some watching if only because they felt they needed to. Sally felt like she would throw up. Tails simply fought Rendall as he had done before. Only kicking and punching. But where as Rendall's punches caused bruises, Tails broke bones. It was 1 minute and 30 seconds later, 1 minute more than most people though Rendall could take for his credit that he screamed his acceptance of Tails terms.

And with that, Tails walked out from the arena as Rendall was carried. Tails was stopped as the leaders from the other tribes walked forward.

"You did well. You did what most if any could not be capable of." The head of the Blood Claw Clan said, turning to the crowd. "Whether horrible to behold and maybe cruel, there was a deathmatch today with no death. For that we should be happy."

And with that, the crowed as one cheered. It wasn't a bellowing cheer but it made its point clear. Tails had done right.

Tails only wished he could believe that.

It was only 10 minutes later that Tails was walking around in the forest. He had left the main path to try and get some air and space.

He had known what had had needed to do. He had guessed it would end like that, with his hands bloodied and knowing he had gone too far... but he had hoped he wouldn't enjoy it. He had tried to remain emotionless throughout the fight, focusing on getting that child united with his parents. But when Rendall had cried out his surrender, he had to force himself to stop. He had enjoyed it.

What was happening to him. The regression? _Please no, not so soon_, Tails thought.

As Tails tried to calm down, he heard rustling in the forest. He turned and saw Sally walking towards him.

"Tails" Sally said in greeting.

Tails shook his head. He didn't need this. He was already feeling the pain from the fight turn into anger ready to boil up at something. He needed to cap his emotions.

"Yes? A bit far out in the forest to be wondering." Tails said leaning against a tree.

"Why haven't you gone to see someone about those wounds?"

"I will. Just wanted to cool off first." Tails replied

Sally sighed. "What happened in there...?"

"Give me an alternative" Tails asked, already guessing the question. He could feel his rage raise for an instant before he quelled it.

"...I can't." Sally admitted. "Maybe try and work the issue politically but nothing comes to mind... but still."

Tails shook his head. "Just say what you want to say Sally" He said impatiently.

"Ok. Personally, I think you're out of control"

Tails turned, rage now boiling over, with no attempt to stop it.

"Really. It's actions like those that take us one step closer to people like Robotnick" Sally continued. She really didn't want to say any of this, but she thought it still needed to be said.

Tails took a few careful breaths before saying. "That's your comparison. My actions today, compared to one of the most famous mass murdering monsters in all Mobian history? Really? Ok"

"Tails that's not what-"

"No, No. You've had your say and I'm gonna have mine." Tails said, pointing at Sally, his voice rising. "You want to come here and tell me I did wrong today. That what I've done I should be ashamed of and regret. I'll tell you now, I take no pride in what I did but I would not take it back. I wasn't out there enjoying myself, unless you think that's how I get my kicks-"

"Tails please. I didn't mean it like tha-"

"No. Please, let me finish" Tails interrupted. Sally remained quite as Tails continued. "I hate it here"

Sally's eyes widened at that comment.

"Really. I hate being here, remained of what I've lost and could potentially lose again. And reminded of how things used to be. Simple... fun... innocent... I loved it here. And now, being back, knowing it can never be mine, even here when I'm right in it."

"But it can be Tails. You don't have to be a stranger." Sally said, moving forward to put her hand on Tails arm.

"No" Tails said. He had promised himself he wouldn't repeat what Tempest had said to him but... he was so mad. Here Sally was judging him with everything going on... He didn't... shouldn't have to be a knight in shining armour to get everything done.

"No, after this is all over, I go. I don't get a return ticket to my time like you did." Tails said, leaning against a tree.

"What?" Sally asked, not sure she had heard correctly. "What do you mean?"

Tails explained in more detail the conversation he had with Tempest, including the risk he took and the reason. "You see? When you came back, you were exactly the same person as your alternative self. Can you see me 10 years in the future? In yours Tails future? If time shifts, I won't fit so I'll be cast away... that's how it is"

"That's..." Sally said, sliding down a tree stump she was leaning against. "...That's not possible. Didn't you ask if there was any way out of it?"

"Nope. He offered me the chance to change everything. I didn't think I was in a position to haggle."

There was silence. Tails just sighing, annoyed that he had burdened Sally with something she didn't need to know. Something that would only bring pain. He had been stupid.

"Listen...I... I might have exaggerated. " He said, rather unconvincingly "Really, Tempest said I would become my alternative self. Just wake up one day, no memories but the ones that belong in this time. That wouldn't be too bad"

Tails hoped the lie had been convincing. "In any case, its later and I'm starting to hurt. I'll see Doctor Quake about my wounds and-" Tails stopped and looked back as he saw Sally, still sitting down holding his arm.

"Tell me what happened." Sally said simply.

"What? Sally. Really it's not important." Tails replied.

"Please Tails. I want to hear it. How did Nichole end up how she did? The burns were from the inside. Was it her who took care of you...? Really, I want hear everything that happened to you. I won't be able to fully understand you until you do... Please"

Tails looked down at Sally he eyes set but also gentle. Suddenly, he felt 10 again. He felt he could let his guard down. No... as if he suddenly didn't have a guard or wall he had to put up. And with that, it all started to come out.

Tails sat down and begin his story again. This time however, not in a simple cut down summary but everything. Every feeling he felt going through the village after the fire, his relationship with Nichole during those years of wondering. The full story on what happened to her, his meeting with Robotnick, even his fight with Uncle Chuck. It all just came out in one long breath. A breath he felt he had been holding some so long now.

All that time Sally just listened. She didn't gasp in surprise or stop him at any point. And he felt somewhat comforted with that.

He didn't know how long he had been there, or when he had taken Nichole out and started to gently rub his thumb over her ash covered screen. He just knew that when he finished, all the anger he had tried to hold down since the fight had just disappeared. He felt... relaxed. Even the pain he knew he was in couldn't seem to enter the calm place he had made.

Sally was still there, now leaning against Tails. She also had her Nichole out, surprised that her little PDA could grow into a segregate parent for Tails during that time.

Tails just sighed. "So... what now"

Sally mused for a second. "Well, it will take some time to convince Sonic but I think I can get your younger self into active Freedom Fighter activities."

Tails blinked. "...What?"

"Yes." Sally said, mostly to herself. "Even after this attack is over, there will still be missions. I doubt the war will be over in one night. Even if you manage to kill Robotnick again, most of his empire works on automatic so there will be plenty of missions that will be needed. That should be a good enough start for Tails"

Tails sat up, staring at Sally who was still looking forward, working out her plan. "I don't know about "Battle Hardened" but if he sees enough action and we stop his mechanical training for full time Freedom Fighter activities..."

"Sally" Tails cut in. "What are you going on about"

"You said that you would be left out of time when things shift. Because you wouldn't... fit. If that is the case, I can change that. I have 10 years to harden your younger self and with enough time I should be able to manage it."

Tails just looked at her. Trying to find any hint of a lie, cruel joke or even a look of madness. "Sally, you can't turn Tails into me. I'm not someone you want-"

Tails stopped as Sally carefully put her hands on his lips to silence him. "I acted like I did this morning out of ignorance. I didn't know the full story, only looking at the cover. Tails, you took on everything the world had to through at you. Everything you could lose you did and you still kept going. You are still here trying to save everyone. I won't lose you. Not after everything you've been through."

"But... my other self has a chance to be something-"

Sally once again silenced Tails. "I'm not doing this as some sort of reward for what you've done Tails. I really mean it. I can't see a better future for Tails then you."

Tails just stared. "You maybe a bit rough around the edges, but I do know you. You are a very good person Tails."

Sally stood up and made to leave.

"Sally" Tails simply said.

"Not a word Tails. As soon as this is all over and you are gone, I'll start Tails training. You can't stop me and my mind is set" And with that and a final smile, Sally walked off into the forest.

_And I do mean it, _Sally thought. _I know I'm not wrong. You are worth saving. And you are not the only one able to make the tough decisions Tails._

Tails sat there, watching as Sally walked away. It wasn't a joke. Tails knew that, deep down. Sally was probably going back to Tails younger self's hut to read him a bedtime story and would probably do so over the next 2 days and when he was gone, would turn him into a soldier. She really would.

He should be appalled that Sally was willing to do that to a 10 year old. One who would not know why everything would suddenly turn upside down for him... but if that was the case... why was he so happy.

Tails touch at his cheek and felt wetness. He was crying. He couldn't feel the puffiness in his eyes but he could feel the tears run down his cheek. He felt so happy and sad at the same time that he just sat there, smiling with tears running down his face.

He wiped the tears away, shaking his head to clear his thoughts. He was in pain and needed his wounds looked after. He decided to focus on that for the moment. Something simple and easy to deal with.

As Tails got up to move, he turned and saw Lupe, not some distance away, near a tree stump.

"How long have you been here?" Tails asked.

"Since I followed you here after you fight, quite some time" Lupe said, no hint of shame for her listening in on him and Sally.

She looked at Tails bloodied coat. "I will tend to your wounds."

Tails nodded. "Thanks"

Tails got to his feet and started to head back to the camp with Lupe beside him. "Lupe..."

"Yes?" Lupe asked.

"What do you think of Sally's idea...? I... I don't know what to feel." Tails asked

"Honestly? I am glad." Lupe said, smiling. And she left it at that.

It was some time later that Tails was in Lupe's hut, everyone else in the camp asleep, allowing the both of them to enjoy the peace and quiet. Lupe was behind Tails, cleaning some of the few wounds he had gained during the fight.

"It is all rather superficial. You are lucky." Lupe said

She turned with wash some of the bloodied rags beside Tails.

Tails turned to Lupe. "Lupe... really. I want a full answer. Why do you think it is a good idea for the past version of myself become... well... me. I want a real answer."

Lupe sighed. "One thing you need to know Tails. I don't have as many miss giving's about fighters as you do. That is the reason the wolf pack exists. There will always be a need for people able to fight. We are living proof of that. One person willing and able to fight is one person who doesn't have to. And despite how low an opinion you seem to have for yourself, I can tell you truthfully. You are someone I am truly happy to know."

Tails just stared out of the window. For so long he had been pretending to be something he wasn't. His act as Cable, his constant lies to Nichole back in the wasteland. Even to himself, he kept holding things back. Was it because of his regression? Nichole had told him the symptoms and how to look out for them. Had he been using the regression as a wall he could use to hide behind. Something he could use on himself to restrain his thoughts?

He looked back at Lupe, who was still washing the bloodied bandages. He knew one thing that was bouncing around in his mind. Something he had been holding back for the same reasons as everything else. Ok. If she thought that this version of himself was worth saving, then he wasn't going to hold back. He was tired of it. He had gone through a rollercoaster of emotions this evening and now he was just going to simplify things

Tails grabbed Lupe's arm and pulled her onto his lap. Before she could shout out, he leaned forward and kissed her.

It was all so sudden that he guessed she had been too surprised to slap him. He broke off the kiss and looked up at her. "Fine then. You want Tails to turn into me, then you get me, the whole package. I've been wanting to do that since we met. It's something I still want to do and I don't really feel any shame in what I've just done."

Lupe just looked at Tails in shock. "And what if I had screamed or hit you. What if I don't want to see you again because you just tried to molest me?"

Tails looked Lupe in the eyes. "If you think I wouldn't be sorry that my impulsive actions might have cost me the friendship of someone I care about, then you'd be wrong. I would be. And if it has... I'll Le-"

Tails was about to go, when Lupe sighed and pushed Tails back down, easily done from her position on Tails lap.

"I was only saying that doing something THAT impulsive could have severely cost you. You're just lucky."

Tails quirked an eyebrow. "Lucky? Lucky ho-"

Before Tails could speak again, Lupe was already on him and returning the kiss.

_Present (2 Days to go)_

Tails woke to the feeling of sunlight over his white coat. He tried to keep his eyes shut, not wanting to move. Sleeping properly this time on a large mattress instead of hanging over the edge with his tail gripped in Lupe's vice like hands... wait.

Tails, still eyes closed suddenly realised something. He was in Lupe's bed. He also had his arms around someone, his arms crossed at the chest. He slowly opened his eyes to see Lupe sleeping next to him.

_What happened last night..._

_..._

_... oh. Now I remember... bloody hell._

Memories of last night's kiss returned to him. He also remembered things... moving on from there. He actually remembered trying to put a stop to things.

"Lupe. We should stop" Tails said calmly, whilst he removed his shoes.

Lupe, who was removing the rings in her ponytail said in the same tone as Tails, "You really mean that?"

"No, not at all" and with that, Tails remember them both falling to the bed and...

Even now Tails couldn't help blushing. A sudden thought occurred. If last night was just a night of passion and Lupe woke up like he did, not quite so sure about the previous evening, but her with his arms around her. How would she react?

Tails decided he would play it safe. He didn't think he should leave the hut before Lupe woke up, but he could at least get out of bed and give her some space. He tried to carefully move his arm that was underneath Lupe without waking her. Since her back was to him, he couldn't see at the time her eyes open. As she felt Tails stir and try to move she rolled over, trapping Tails arm even further beneath hers as her face and his were close enough that their noses were touching.

"Where are you going? Your fight isn't until later on tonight and as far as I know, you have nothing else to do today. You need you rest."

Lupe said all this in that same matter a fact way she always did. Even when Tail's arms were around her and without any clothes on.

Tails smiled but suddenly noticed something that had been bothering him. Using his free hand he placed it on his neck and felt...

"Do I have bite marks on my neck?" Tails asked, feeling the spots with his fingers.

"Well yes. Things did get a little heated last night. But it's only fair. You bit me" Lupe said, smiling to herself as if she was remembering something.

_What was she talking about-_

_-Oh yes I remember._

As Tails mused, Lupe just smiled and leaned forward to kiss Tails. Things had changed between them and Lupe seemed to be taking the lead with their new relationship.

It was only a few seconds later when both Tails and Lupe heard someone say

"Good Morning- Oh. I'm sorry if I'm disturbing the both of you".

It was one of the wolves from the pack. Tails turned to him, feeling more annoyed than anything else at the comment then the actual intrusion.

"Yes what is it?" Lupe asked, her annoyance as evident in her voice.

"We just got a message. It appears Fenris wants a meeting with Tails." The wolf replied, keeping a blank expression on his face.

"Did he give a time?" Tails asked.

"All he said was as long as it was before your fight" The wolf answered

"That will be all" Lupe said

The wolf left without saying a word.

Tails mused as Lupe settled back down. "Why would he want a meeting... is it safe?" He asked looking back to Lupe.

Lupe shook her head. "He's a Blood Claw and their leader to boot. He won't do anything they consider dishonourable. They follow their clans teachings to the letter."

Tails mused. "Do you know much about him personally?"

"No. No one does outside the clan. But judging from his actions 2 nights ago, I believe he is a good person"

Tails didn't feel convinced. "This entire problem starts because of him. I don't know how much I can trust in someone able to commit to such a stupid plan"

Lupe mused. "Honestly Tails. I don't know if he would even want to do such as action"

"But he does. Or did" Tails countered.

"I mean, he's their leader. And despite what you might think, in a joined pack like ours or the Blood Claws, the leader usually ends up being lead by its peoples wishes... or in this case, its teachings. Which I might add is much much harder to go against."

"You really think he can be trusted" Tails asked.

"All I know is that he would not have a choice on that charge you mentioned. If he became leader, the Blood Claws teachings on the Rites of War are set in stone. He would have to set the charge."

"You think he might try and throw the fight then, if that is how he feels?"

"I think he has tried to throw it in his own way. I think him trying to get you to take my place is as much as he can do in his current position"

"I think this is all far fetched." Tails answered

"I know. It may be taking things too far. I just want you to have an open mind when you meet him. You can gain nothing by talking to him with a mind that is already made."

Tails snorted. "That a nice way of saying don't be hard headed."

Lupe smiled and lightly took Tails chin in her hand. "At least I tried to be nice"

Tails laughed and got out of bed.

It was about 30 minutes later that Tails found himself outside of the Bloody Claw area of Knothole, waiting for news from Fenris.

A wolf shortly returned, asking "Cable" to follow him into the largest hut in the centre of the clearing.

As Tails entered, the wolf opting to stay outside, he noticed the hut was mostly empty. Just a blanket on the floor and some books next to it. There was also two cushions near the blanket, one taken up by Fenris, who was just putting down one of the books. Tails was just able to see the title on the spine. "General Tactics in Modern Warfare – By Robert Shermond".

Fenris' noticed Tails look and smiled. "It is a human book. Even though they were our greatest enemies, they have been fighting for far longer then we have, and on so many different battlefields"

"Interested in War?" tails asked, trying to seem polite on the subject Fenris had raised.

Fenris indicated his other books. "Gorilla Fighting, Fighting in open areas, suggestions on weapons (lethal and non lethal) based on the necessity, Fighting in enclosed populated areas" Fenris picked up one book in particular. "This" He said tapping the book with one of his claws "This is one of my favourites. It's called The Minimalist Fighter. It's not so much a book on tactics but on a hypothetical story of a man who starts a campaign to topple a government. He starts his adventure with quite literally nothing. Over the course of the book, he builds connections, gains finances, strikes at areas that seem foolish and random but later show themselves to be vital targets in his vital plan."

Tails tried to look interested but the only books he had ever read or been read to were children books when he was younger. "It's only a story though. It's easy to describe how the pieces fall and set it all up for your main character."

Fenris smiled. "That why I love this book. Originally it just seemed a silly little story. Quite clever but a bit presumptuous. Then I found out later that the writer of the book was human name Carter Wilson, a man who grew up in the slums and later..."

"...toppled the government in power." Tails finished, guessing where this was leading.

Fenris was beaming now. "Exactly. The government at the time was very corrupt, so the story did have a happy ending... of sorts"

Tails was now completely lost. Why was he here and how could this wolf infront of him, who seemed to have a fancy for military history cause of the great blunder the wiped out the freedom fighters. A blind assault on a city.

"So, may I ask why you have brought me here?" Tails asked.

"Cable, how much of Blood Claw history do you know?" Fenris asked, sitting down again and indication the cushion opposite.

"Well" Tails said, sitting down "Not too much. I came from one of the de-militarised packs so the history I learnt was from my parents and it was pretty simple."

Fenris nodded. "Far enough. If you don't mind, I'll give you a quick history lesson."

Tails nodded for Fenris to continue.

"There have been 5 instances of the Alpha challenge recorded in our history. 3 occasions was against the humans in 3 separate wars. 1 included us fighting in the same fashion as we are today: unified with other Mobian under the banner of the Acorns. In any case, in all 5 instances the Blood Claw clan were the ones who gained the title. In general, we train our warriors (our leaders in particular) much harsher than any other clan."

Tails nodded at this. He had already heard that the Blood Claws had gained the title in the past and the numbers didn't add much to it. He wondered what Fenris was getting at. He decided to pose a question to Fenris.

"Fair enough. I won't deny, when I heard that the Blood Claws had won every time this challenge occurred, I imaged you all being muscle headed meat machines. It looks like I heavily misjudged you"

Fenris laughed. "Yes we don't have many positive rumours about us and our own actions certainly don't help matters"

Tails smiled continuing "You seem at heart to be a strategist. At least that's what I can guess from your reading material. I am guessing you have made plans for if you become the Alpha and have full control of all the clans. I know she doesn't look it but Sally has been running gorilla ops since she was a child. Have you put forward your plan to her for a joint effort against Robotnick?"

That did seem to removing the smile from Fenris' face. He didn't seem angry, just depressed. "Yes... I was getting to that"

Tails looked unsure.

"You see, unlike the other clans, I am leader in title only. The Blood Claws always have two leaders. One is the external one: that's me. My job is to be strong and appear to the outside world as the clan's leader. That's it. I do have some power but only as a second in command to the main person in control. That would be our elder. And your description of... what was it... "Muscle Headed Meat Machines" would fit him completely."

Tails was uncomfortable. Where had this come from. "I was only joking with that. I didn't mean to cause any insult".

"It's not. He's an idiot" Fenris said casually. "But the fact is, even if I become head of the Clan, I still have to listen to my elder. It's our law. Whether I'm Alpha or not, that won't change. That's what I was going to say earlier. That's the way our clan has been governed in the past."

"But that's ridiculous" Tails replied. "How does that even work? Why put up the pretence of two leaders"

"Effectively, I'm a shield. Our clan has made many enemies in the past. So whilst the young and brash external leader is out there, spear in hand, the real leaders are still behind and keep the clan going. I'm a diversion. That's it." Fenris said, looking almost desperately at Tails.

Tails thought for a second. "Fenris. If you win this challenge... what are the chances of your elder asking you to call an all out raid on Robotropolis?"

Fenris looked surprised for a second before recovering. "There are no chances. I know that is what he will do."

_At least this makes things clearer_, Tails thought.

"That's why I'm here isn't it. That's why you changed Lupe for me." Tails said

Fenris nodded. "I'm not an idiot. I know what the chances are if the full clan follows this course of action. I can't throw the fight. If I go in there, I go in to win. I can't pretend to lose. The members of my clan will know if I do."

"Ok. How does this change things. I was still aiming to win anyway. All this means is I have more pressure on me to do so" Tails lied, already fighting to stop that decision from happening.

"I didn't call you here to increase your chances of winning. After tonight, everything will either go to the flames-"

Tails actually winced at the choice of words.

"- or you will be in a position to control all clans." Fenris turned around and fished a document from behind him.

"All the wolf clans have been fighting since this war began. Even us. But whilst we have been listening to our elder, pulling off basic hit and runs on Robotnick's bases, I've had a couple guys loyal to me to infiltrate and map out areas of Robotropolis."

Fenris pulled out a map from the folder and spread it out on the floor. Tails could see real enthusiasm on Fenris' face now.

The map showed a line based street map of all the streets in Robotropolis. It showed camera locations, dates on when last verified based on colours, underground roots...

"I've devised an air tight plan in order to reach the main building that Robotnick uses. This was the hard part" With that, Fenris pulled out another set of maps, these more specific to the main complex. One displayed the complex as a whole with floor plans. Other based on specific floors.

Tails looked over all of this, getting more and more impressed. Fenris, despite what Tails had originally thought, was defiantly a gifted strategist, if only in the amount of detail he went into. Everything was covered: roots, SWATbot patrols, likely locations of Robotnick based on times and dates.

Fenris looked up. "I have it all planned out. This has taken me 4 years to make but I am sure I have it. The details on the actual plan are here-"

"Don't tell me" Tails said, looking off into nowhere "A small strike force. No more then 5 men?"

Fenris' eyes widened. "Yes. How could you know?"

Tails smiled to himself. This had been the part that Tails had been trying not to think about. The attack after the fights. He was not good at planning but had assumed Sally would come up with something. But now, now he knew what was supposed to happen. Fenris. He was the key.

"Fenris. Go see Sally. Show her everything you have. Tell her I sent you" Tails said quickly.

"What?" Fenris said, not really expecting this. He had expected to argue his points to Tails, having to win him over and not seem like he was trying to plan out the attack anyway, whether he lost or not.

"Just trust me. Go to Sally and tell her... tell her this is related to the stones and that this is something that needs to be looked at. Just trust me on this" Tails said.

"Alright" Fenris said. "But as I said, I will still be fighting-"

"Yeah, I know that. Thank you Fenris. This really was enlightening." And with that Tails got up and made to leave.

Tails left the hut, leaving Fenris inside staring blankly at his plan.

Evening came finally as Tails made his way into the camp. He saw the final stage had been set in their campsite, all 4 clans here to watch the final proceedings. He stopped Lupe and Sally together, with Sonic as well.

"Hey guys." Tails greeted.

"Yo, all pumped up?" Sonic asked, his usual optimism still showing in full force.

"I feel ready. Sally did Fenris come to meet you?" Tails asked.

"Yes I should say so." Sally responded, still looking unsure. "Cable, you have got to win this."

"I know." Tails responded.

"And when you do win, you can order Fenris to leave his clan and become my assistant" Sally continued.

That caught all of them off guard. Especially Sonic. "What Sal?"

Sally looked back at Tails. "He's the best strategist I have ever met. He knows more about Robotropolis' layout then me or even Uncle Chuck. And that plan of his... god it's so annoying I didn't see most of the holes in Robotnick's defences."

"Sally. I didn't give his actual plan a very good look but what does it actually involve?"

"The capture of Robotnick" Sally said.

All looked at her. Tails had guessed it would be something along those lines but Lupe and especially Sonic had no idea about this.

"Sally. You've been trying to figure that out for... since we started" Sonic.

"And he figured it out. If his plans are right, then there is a very good chance that we can end this war. And most likely tomorrow." Sally said beaming.

Sonic looked like he was about to faint. "You serious Sal?"

"Never been more so. But this is all based on the fact that Cable wins this fight" Sally said, turning back to Tails.

"Wow. Seems this is all riding on you" Sonic said, slapping Tails shoulder.

_Tell me something I haven't known from the start_, Tails thought with a grin.

Tails turned to the ring as one of the Blood Claw wolves stepped out to speak.

"This is the final fight in the Alpha Challenge. The rules are as normal. Both competitors fight until one either surrenders, is knocked out of the ring or is deemed unable to fight." The wolf shouted out.

"Here goes nothing" Tails said as he walked into the ring.

He saw Fenris enter on the opposite side, looking determined and very ready to fight. Both fighters moved to the centre of the ring whilst the referee listed off more rules.

"So, how was you meeting with Sally?" Tails asked.

"She is... most impressive. She appears to be like me, self taught in the art of war but without even the aid I have in my books." Fenris replied, looking somewhat happy that their meeting.

"Well... no hard feelings" Tails said.

"We both know that is not true. Just remember, if I win, enact the plan anyway. All it would mean is the wolves would not be there to aid you" Fenris said, somewhat resigned.

"I don't know if that is an option... but thank you anyway." Tails said, nodding his head as they spread away from one another and moved to opposites sides of the ring.

"Are both fighters ready?" Asked the wolf.

"Yes" They both shouted back.

"Then... Begin!"

As soon as the fight started, Tails knew that this would not be as easy as he had it before. However much of a pushover Rendall had been, Fenris was in a different league. He wasted no time closing the distance and performing a clean leg sweep. Tails tried to fly away but Fenris shot up like a coiled spring and grabbed Tails leg. He then climbed up Tails and got him, mid air, in a choke hold.

Tails stopped spinning his tails and tried to land with Fenris on the bottom. As soon as Fenris saw he was to be the cushion in their landing, he broke off and shot back to his corner.

Tails was stunned. All his actions were quick and smooth. He wasted none of his effort. If Rendall had been a simply ok fighter, the Fenris was more in Sonics league in terms of combat. He was not going to be an easy opponent.

Tails knew that if he was going to have a chance at winning, he needed to take the fight to Fenris hard and fast. He couldn't stretch this out. Not with him in perfect physical condition and Tails still recovering from last night.

Tails shot forward, starting a close face to face punch up between himself and Fenris. Both threw punches and blocked as they exchanged blows, each trying to land a kicks whenever the others guard was too low.

This did not end well for either as Fenris made a painful punch to the side of Tails head whilst he was able to land a full kick to Fenris' ribs. He knew he could feel out broke as he struck.

Both separated, gasping. Fenris was hiding his pain well, overloading it with adrenaline and will power. Tails needed to end this fast.

Tails shot back as far as he could and put both hands and feet on the ground. Behind him his tails were spinning faster and faster until the sound turned from a low whirring noise to a high pitched screech. He used both his hands and feet to keep himself stationary until he could build up enough spin in his tails.

Fenris looked surprised but soon realised that he needed to stop what Tails was doing. Before he reached Tails however, Tails released the built up force and shot forward like a bullet. He either hit Fenris and would be able to knock him out of the ring, or he would miss and his momentum would send himself out instead. It was a gamble. But one that paid off as Fenris, too close to dodge the attack was struck by Tails full body, arms crossed over his chest to lessen the impact. Tails suddenly stopped moving and Fenris shout off his feet and out of the ring. He landed with a loud smack into a hoard of his fellow wolves, all breaking his impact with their bodies.

Silence ran throughout the grounds save for groans from the wolves who had been hit with Fenris' body. Fenris himself seemed to have been knocked unconscious.

Tails looked expectantly at the referee, just as he got the point and shouted out. "Cable is the new Alpha Leader"

The clearing exploded with cheers.

_Present (1 Day to go)_

It was 00:00 at night. Tails, Sonic, Sally, Fenris and Lupe sat together inside Sally's hut.

"Ok...We've gone over the plan. All that stands now is who is going?"

"Sal" Sonic said, sounding unsure. "Are you sure about this? I mean, it's a good plan...I think" Sonic said, having already gotten lost into the fine details that Fenris and Sally could handle. "But to suddenly go after Robotnick... HIMSELF, the same night as the fights..."

Sally sighed, looking at everyone in the room. "Ok. I didn't want to tell anyone about this to save off panic but Uncle Chuck sent me word last night of a new project Robotnick has been working on secretly. He calls it Super Napalm."

This grabbed everyone's attention. Everyone save Tails that is. "One rocket of the stuff could take out an entire 1/3 of the great forest. Charles' report says he has hundreds of them and is making more."

Sonic and Fenris looked like they were gonna be sick.

"I don't know whether Robotnick is actually planning on using these weapons" Sally gave a quick glance to Tails. "But I know I have a plan infront of me that could realistically take out the devil who has been terrorising us for nearly a decade. I'm sure. We need to move now"

News of the napalm seemed to remove any misgivings Sonic or Fenris seemed to have.

"Now, your plan calls for 5 people. No more... and I see 5 people infront of me" Sally said. She turned to Fenris. "Fenris. To pull off this plan without any hitches we need someone who knows it inside an out. You're in and in command"

That got everyone's attention this time. Including Tails and Fenris. "What? Are you sure?"

"You have experience being in command and it's your plan. Even with all your notes, you seem to be the one I can trust to improvise is things go south."

Fenris nodded, his usual stoic expression returning.

"Cable" Sally said, looking directly at Tails. "I don't think you need to prove yourself."

"My first freedom fighter mission being the one that captures Robotnick. Well, didn't see that coming" Tails said, smiling.

Sonic laughed at that

"And Lupe... do you think you are able to join us? I know I would feel better with you with us" Sally asked.

Lupe nodded. "My injures are not as severe as they were before. I feel confident I can perform my end."

Sally nodded. "Ok people. This is it. I know this is sudden but we have to make this work. We are putting all in and I want tomorrow to celebrate Tails birthday AND the end of the worst tyrant to ever face the Acorn Kingdom."

"Right!" The all shouted in agreement.

"Fenris. The table is yours"

Fenris nodded and stepped forward. "Ok. Each of you has a very specific task you all need to make. I cannot emphasise enough how crucial each stage is. Sonic."

Fenris turned to Sonic, moving one of the maps towards him. "You Sonic are going to need to perform the distraction. That will not only draw away attention but make sure of Robotnick's location, in the main control chamber"

"Sally, Robotnick knows Sonic is used as a distraction on all of you missions so you will be the icing on the cake. There is a SWAT Factory with minimal security in it at the moment. You and Lupe will go here" Fenris indicated on the map to a specific corner. "There is a camera there, hidden. Don't make eye contact with it if you spot it. We have to let Robotnick think you are the main objective."

"3 of use just for distraction?" Sonic asked.

"The point is only one person actually has to get into the main complex, with one other person disabling the security and acting as the main agents spotter. Everyone else is there to make absolutely sure that Robotnick is not paying attention to where is matters."

Fenris turned to Tails. "Out of the two of us, I'm more confident in you being able to make the actual run. I am the only one who can disable the necessary security systems and being able to judge how things are going for you. Have you memorised the maps?"

"Completely" Tails replied.

"Ok. Now my favourite part" Fenris said with a smile as he took a large binder filled with paper. "The fine details"

It was nearly an hour later that Tails found himself running quietly through the streets of Robotropolis. He was following Fenris' directions to the letter as he weaved between camera blind spots. He knew he didn't have to worry about any patrols on the route he was taking. All he had to be sure of was that he didn't enter into the view of any cameras.

As soon as he was beneath the shadow of the huge complex that Robotnick housed himself in, he waited at one of the service entrances for Fenris' signal.

As the minutes slowly ticked away, he heard in his ear piece "Ok, I've got a feed into Robotnick's system. There's nothing at the moment... wait. There it is, the alarm."

Tails tensed. He had been waiting nearly a decade for this. Now he was about to do it all over again. His fingers brushed the shell of Nichole, still hidden in his pocket. He would do this right.

"Ok. He's spotted Sonic. That was the easy part. Now to wait until Sally and Lupe are noticed..."

The radio went dead for a few minutes until "There. He's spotted them. Fantastic. He doesn't suspect a thing. Ok, I'm about to cut the alarms on that door. Your 10 minute windows starts... NOW!"

Tails didn't waste any time. He shot forward and took out one of the metal eating balloons he had been given earlier and threw it at the door. Save the hissing sound of it dissolving, the door fell apart with barley a whisper.

Tails shot forward. He couldn't move too fast unless he wanted to risk moving ahead of Fenris and his hacking.

It was earlier when going through the plan that Tails realised that it was in fact Fenris who seemed to have the most difficult job. Tails was only to move forward and get the job done. All the years of planning had apparent gone into what Fenris was dealing with, hacking one of Robotnick's terminals and controlling everything from there.

Tails moved as Fenris' voice popped into his hear every few seconds, telling him which halls were secure, when he needed to wait or backtrack. The complex was a maze and a well guarded maze at that. He just needed to be spotted by one guard and the plan was through. So he never rushed unless Fenris specifically told him to. This plan could be done by someone who could run at normal speeds so Tails could easily go too fast if he wasn't careful and upset Fenris' calculations.

"Ok Tails. You are nearly there. Do you have what you need?" Fenris asked.

"It's a pretty stupid time to be asking that now Fenris" Tails said sarcastically.

"Just making sure. Remember, Robotnick always has an escape shoot, one in his chair and one on the left side of the room. You will need to destroy his chair first, just to be sure."

"Yes, got it" Tails repeated, already aware of what Fenris had told him earlier.

"Right. Go when you see fit."

And with that the radio went dead. Ok. Now is really was all up to him. Tails reached into his pocket and pulled out a long silver rod with a trigger on one end. He took is carefully in his hand and took a breath.

This wasn't like before. Before he had already won. Already had Robotnick's empire to control and he had been drunk. He has guards and just has to push a button to leave. I can't make a mistake.

Tails focused on what he needed to do... and shot forward.

Robotnick sat in his throne, looking at the screens in irritation. He only gotten the alarm 10 minutes ago and had thought that the Freedom Fighters might be after the Super Napalm. He had been sleeping badly for days thinking that at any second he would hear that Sonic or one of those pesky furry freaks had found and destroyed his shipments. He was so close. So close to have an ace up his sleeve for whenever he wanted to end it all. He needed the Great Forest. This was his base of operations and the Great Forest was so close and rich with resources. But also rich with the pesky Freedom Fighters. And soon he would have an answer could use whenever he wanted.

But in the mean time he still had to deal with these stupid distractions. He didn't care if the factory was destroyed. If he could get Sally however and that annoying wolf, well that would be a plus for the day.

Just as Robotnick mused on how to use Sally and Lupe if they were captured, the door to his right melted.

"What?" Robotnick yelled in his hollowed metallic voice.

Tails wasted no time. He shot forward towards Robotnick who just got out the way as he slammed into his chair, dislodging it from its foundations and launching it across the room.

Robotnick tried to make his way to his secondary exit as he yelled for guards but the Mobian who had attacked him stood in his way.

Robotnick seethed. "I don't think I've met you before" He said pleasantly, waiting for his security to arrive.

"No I don't suppose you have." Tails said, taking aim with the silver rod and pulling the trigger. A small laser shot out of the device and struck Robotnick on his metal arm.

"What in blue blazes? What did you shoot me with? Guards?" Robotnick yelled.

Tails grinned. "Lights out"

Robotnick grinned. "Really. Am I about to go to sleep because if I am, I don't feel any fatigue. Was that your plan. To carry me out?"

"No. The first plan was to kill you" Tails said calmly, throwing away the device.

"Ha. Really" Robotnick said, now looking a little off.

"Yes... but I didn't think that would be necessary." Tails said still smiling. Tails smile however went as he saw the guards enter into the room.

Their bodies were huge and armed like tanks. But even with all that extra plating and weaponry, Tails could still recognise the enemies before him.

"HELLO AGAIN" Drago said.

Tails could only just recognise the three wolves he had killed when he had first arrived in the past. He could only just tell them apart by the unmodified robotic faces.

"IT'S BEEN A WHILE" Drago said again, stepping forward.

"Yes. I found them using their GPS chips. All Robians have them" Robotnick said, now laughing.

Tails backed away. He didn't know what these new versions of the traitor wolves were capable of but he knew he would need a weapon to deal with it. He had two balloons left. He would have to make them count.

"Well if you excuse me, I must be going" Robotnick said, turning to leave where Tails had entered.

Tails ran forward to stop him but one of the two other wolves stopped him with blaster fire. Tails had to turn mid sprint and take cover behind a console.

All 3 now were shredding the computers Tails was using for cover. It wouldn't hold out much longer, Tails guessed.

Tails took a risk and shot out of cover and made for Drago. Just as Drago took aim, he shot off again, this time aiming for the wolf on the right. Tails slammed into the giant left foot of the Mobian who lost his balance. As fast as he could, he change direction and slammed into the right foot of the other Robian who also tumbled over, colliding with his companion. Just before they hit each other however, Tails made a throw with one of his metal eating balloons to the spot right between the two of them.

Both collided, slamming into one another and the balloon sandwiched between them exploded in a shower of green corrosive liquid. The upper torsos of both Robians were gone in a flash.

That left only a fuming Drago. Unfortunately he seemed the smartest and most heavily armed. He wasted no time is firing ever shot he had at Tails, no longer caring for that got destroyed in its place.

Tails used the Mobian wolves as cover. He needed to stop Drago and catch up with Robotnick. In desperation, he waited until the shower of lasers subsided and threw his last balloon. Dragon reacted just in time to use his arm as a shield. It melted instantly but he remained upright, still with plenty of fire power to put an end to Tails.

"Damn" Tails muttered, looking around for something to use. He needed... wait.

Drago took aim once more but Tails was on the move again. He shot toward a corner of the room. On the floor was debris from Drago's constant firing. He knew he spotted something. YES!

Tails came up with a pipe. At one end a part of it had come loose from the wall leaving it with a needle like point to it.

"It'll have to do" Tails said.

He quickly side stepped as Drago's firing continued. Not for an instant did Tails stay in one spot, never letting Drago get lock on him. He had to keep moving.

As soon as Tails had enough room, he made his play. He shot towards one of the walls, with Drago's shots following right behind him. As soon as he reached the wall he jumped, turned and shot back, this time in the air with his tails spinning like crazy. He was aiming himself right at Drago. If he adjusted his aim quickly enough, he would be shredded. Thankfully, Drago had not expected Tails sudden change in direction. He also didn't see the pole going through his head... At least not until it was too late.

Robotnick ran as fast as his legs could carry him down the hall way. He knew the way to the hanger. He would just pop on a ship and have his SWATbots search this entire building. That was if there was anything left after his new guards took care of that wolf. He smiled to himself. They had pushed things too far. As soon as he left he would send out those rockets and burn every last inch of green in that blasted forest. They would...

Robotnick had started to find it harder to move. His legs weren't responding like they should. What was going on? It was like they were going numb.

As he made a turning he shouted and fell back as he saw the Robian from before.

"What? How did you get past those units!" Robotnick screamed.

"I'm very fast" Tails was happily.

Robotnick grimaced. "Not another one..."

"Finding it hard to move?" Tails asked.

"What? How did..." As Robotnick responded, he suddenly felt the blood drain from his face. He quickly went to his boot and removed it. And there was a perfectly formed robot foot.

"You see. The second idea was the actually carry you out but we found that would take too much time and effort. However, I have good information telling me that we will eventually be able to make a de- roboticizer. It's only a matter of time. So, a humane safe way to dispose of you until we can have a hearing for your crimes"

Robotnick started to sweat as he felt the slow effect of the roboticizer's effects spread through him.

"You apparently made a portable roboticizer some time ago that was capture by a Freedom Fighter group. Pretty slow but the effects are still the same" Tails said, staring as he saw parts of Robotnick's neck turn metal.

"You can't do this. YOU CAN'T" He yelled as the effects started to spread up his cheeks.

"I can and I did. You'll be back to normal soon. Probably in a few years" Tails said conversationally. "It's much better then you deserve."

And with one final scream of rage, Robotnick lay there, on the ground, now a mindless worker robot waiting for commands.

Tails guessed his only orders would be to sit in a corner somewhere for a good many years until they got round to fixing him.

_Well_, Tails thought. _I guess this is it._

Tails clicked on the radio. "Fenris"

"You got the target?" He asked, not bothering to hide the tension in his voice.

"Mission Accomplished."

The events that followed for Tails seemed to happen on auto pilot. Since Robotnick's system was still active and all his SWATbots were still programmed to capture any Mobians they detected, Robotropolis was still a hot zone. Tails was able to dismantle Robotnick, an experience he still found oddly sickening, even if it was just metal parts now. He made his way out of the city, meeting Sally, Lupe, Fenris, Sonic and both Uncle Chucks on the edge of the city.

Sonic still looked confused at seeing two Uncles, wondering if Chuck had decided to make a duplicate. At a look from Sally, Tails handed the satchel holding Robotnick's body and took Sonic to one side. He had held off on telling his brother the truth for far too long.

"...and that's about it" Tails said, both he and Sonic walking together with the rest of the group so distance off. He guessed they were discussing what to do next.

"Wow. That's a lot to take in" Sonic said. To his credit, Sonic did seem to take the news of him being Tails and from the future quite easily. It had taken very little to convince him.

"Yep. This all did come pretty close to the wire" Tails replied

Sonic laughed. "I thought things seemed a little weird with you. When I met you I could... what's that word. The one when you felt you've seen or done something before."

"Déjà vu?" Tails answered.

"Yeah. It was the same feeling I had all those years ago when I met my future self." Sonic replied. He turned to Tails before shaking his head. "You're taller than me. That's not right"

Tails couldn't help but laugh. A big burst of raw laugher he hadn't felt he could manage anymore. "Of all the things to say, he complain about my height"

"Well it feels weird calling you my little bro when I'm looking up at you" Sonic said, laughing a little himself.

Tails shook his head, still smiling from Sonic's attitude. This was why people ended up liking Sonic. He did act a bit of an idiot most of the time. But he was usually upbeat and happy and people ended up feeling the same way when near him. It was contagious.

"Give it ten years and you will still be looking down me. I don't think that will change." Tails said, putting his hand on Sonic's shoulder.

"Well maybe. In any case, we get to go back to Knothole and tell everyone Robotnick is gone... the war, or the hard part anyway, is over. You did good kid." Sonic said, returning the gesture.

"Thanks... little bro" Tails replied.

"Wait? No, you do not get to say that-" Sonic began.

"What? Let me enjoy it for a short while. Little bro... or better yet, Big Guy. How does that sound."

Some distance behind Sonic and Tails, Sally and Lupe walked with the two Chucks talking to Fenris about the details on the operation.

Both could hear the laughter from where they walked. "They have been talking for no more than 10 minutes and they are already laughing like old friends."

Sally smiled. "Do you know, when we first used the time stones and went back into the past we met ourselves. After some complications we had to confide in them who we were. My younger self was spectacle, asking me some questions only I would know. Sonic's younger self only said 'Makes sense. The idea of someone faster and more stylists then me out there is just not possible'"

Lupe looked at Sally quizzically. Sally laughed and answered the unspoken question "Sonic is easy going. He can accept the idea of time travel with as much as a he accepts his speed. I.E, both impossible to explain or understand, so why bother."

Lupe laughed. "I see. Well... it is good to hear Tails laugh like that. It's refreshing"

Sally nodded and just realised. "I just remembered. With everything going on today... it's his birthday."

"Do you think there will be any time to celebrate it?" Lupe asked.

"No" Uncle Chuck said, stepping forward. "Sorry. Part of the condition of our agreement. We will have to unite the stones in under an hour."

"Or what?" Sally asked, wondering if they could just keep them separate.

"Or they will just unite by themselves. Tails knows this... I'm sorry." Chuck said sombrely as he slowed his pace and joined with his past self and Fenris who had gone quite.

_What now_, Sally wondered. She still planned to keep to her strategy with Tails. She just didn't know if it would work. Guess she would just have to wait 10 years... 10 years. _That was a long time with such an important questions._

As Sally was wondering this, Lupe shot forward at a gentle run towards Tails and Sonic. Both turned to her wondering what she had to say.

"Apparently it is your birthday" Lupe said, standing to Tails other side, putting her arm around his.

Sonic noticed the movement and looked at Tails with surprise. "When did this happen. You left this out of your story"

Tails grinned as he crossed his arm as well. "I was getting to it... and thanks Lupe. I had nearly forgotten."

Lupe didn't want to ask about Tails time limit but Tails seemed to be able to puzzle the look she had and said, almost in answer "I don't have much time until I have to go" Tails said to Sonic.

Sonic looked up. "What? Really? We didn't have a time limit"

"Different rules. I don't make them. And I can't complain overall." Tails gave Lupe a look. She could only guess he didn't want her bringing up the final condition of his deal. He didn't want Sonic to know he would be going for good.

"Well. I have some time. There's one last person I wanted to speak to" Tails said, giving Sonic and Lupe a broad grin.

"You sure about this" Lupe asked as they watched a short distance away from young Tails birthday.

"Yeah... I don't know about Sally's plan and I really don't know if it will work but... I just want a quick word with him" Tails said. He had decided to wait for Sally to swear Tails in to the Freedom Fighters before he stepped forward.

"It's like looking at a memory from the outside" Tails said quietly.

Lupe gently took his hand and squeezed it. Tails grinned. "Ok, wish me the best"

Tails stepped forward just as Sally returned from her talk with Antoine. "You got a crossbow? For my tenth birthday I got a backpack."

The younger Tails laughed as he put the weapon back into its holder and put it away. He seemed determined to keep it out of sight so no one would pay any attention to it. He wasn't about to let something like that get confiscated.

Tails grinned. "Sorry bud. I didn't have time to get a present."

Younger Tails shook his head. "That's fine. Today's been a blast so far."

_It'll get back once news of Robotnick is released. _

"Tails. Do you mind if I talk to you for a second?" Tails asked. He gave a look to Sally who smiled and nodded.

"It's fine sweaty. We won't go anywhere" Sally said.

"Ok" Tails replied eagerly, following the taller wolf as they moved just to the right away from everyone.

"Ok Tails" Tails started. "This may seem weird, me being a stranger speaking to you like this but do you mind if I give you some advice?"

Younger Tails shook his head "Its fine. Sonic and Sally like you. That's enough for me"

"Great. Well for one thing" Tails said as he moved forward and carefully reached from Tails hand. He placed his fingers in Tails glove and fished out Sonic's ring. "I know about yours and Bunnies plan"

Tails eyed widened. Before he could reply, Older Tails said. "It's fine. I found out on my own, not from Sonic or Sally... trust me on this, your way of dealing with Sonic dragging his feet is a good way of handling him, but not the best"

Tails hung his head. "I didn't like the plan"

"It's tough love. I can understand that. Really. Just let me have a bash at Sonic first. I think I know what to say to get him to do it on his own." Tails said

Tails thought for a second before nodding his head. "Ok. Deal" He held out his hand.

Older Tails smiled and shook his younger self's hand. "Leave it to me... one last thing..."

Tails took a deep breath before continuing. "I know you feel you need to prove yourself. Always wanting to go on Freedom Fighter missions"

Tails suddenly looked uncomfortable. "I-"

"It's fine." Tails cut in. "I can understand it."

Tails sat down and indicated his younger self to do the same next to him. "You see everyone go off, on important missions and feel you need to do something yourself. Carry your own weight and try to make yourself useful, right?"

Tails younger self nodded. "Look, I'm gonna tell you something now and I don't want you saying anything about it. At this point in time it's pretty secret."

Tails younger self now looked interested.

"Robotnick was defeated. This morning". He could see his younger self move to speak but cut him off by saying. "Firstly, I'm not lying. I was on the mission, it happened at 1:35 this morning. Sonic and Sally where there."

Tails younger self suddenly looked depressed. "So it's all over then?"

"Annoyed that Robotnick was stopped?" Tails said grinning.

"NO!" Tails shouted but quickly lowered his voice. "No. It's not that"

Tails older self laughed. He ruffled his younger self's hair. "I know, I know. You think you were made into a Freedom Fighter now because it doesn't mean anything. I can tell you now I spoke to Sonic before this mission was even in Sally's hands. They did intend to make you a Freedom Fighter properly. Not because of this."

Tails seemed to cheer up. "So it's all over. The war is over"

Tails turned to his younger self, now looking serious. "No. That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

Tails looked up at the older wolf, realising he should listen carefully.

"There is still a lot to do. The SWATbots are still active. The world is a mess. Literally. Millions of Mobians are still roboticized... and now you're a Freedom Fighter." Tails reached out and took Tails badge.

"You're only 10 Tails. But with this, you are an adult, whether people treat you like one or not. You will be on missions. Real missions. Sally won't be your auntie. She will most likely be your commanding officer. Everything is going to change"

Even if Sally wasn't going to do what she had told him she would do to his younger self, Tails knew this was something he needed to hear. Something he knew he would have wanted to hear when he was younger.

"That oath you just took maybe something every member has to say when joining but on what it means is down to you. It's all going to be down to you when you are out there. Do you understand?"

His younger self didn't say anything. He just slowly nodded his head.

"Good. You know this isn't a game Tails. In taking these first steps, you need to have full perspective on what you are gonna face in the future. You might not be ready. You might face a situation you find so frightening you don't know how to deal with it."

Tails younger self looked worried. "What do I do then?"

"I'm not here to give you the answers Tails" Tails said laughing. "That really would be presumptuous of me. And I really am not here to scare you. I'm just here to make sure you are aware that everything can change in an instant. That's what a mission can be like. I just wanted you to be aware of that"

Tails nodded, again a slow action before he asked. "Does that help? Knowing that things could change for the worse in an instant."

Tails older self nodded. "I think it does... but then again, I'm weird so probably not the best person to ask on this"

That seemed to break the tension, causing Tails younger self to laugh as both of them got up. "Alright. I've wasted enough of your time. Enjoy yourself"

"Ok... and thanks. Thanks for the advice" Tails said as he ran back to the party.

Tails smiled as he saw himself run off. He checked the time and found he didn't have that much time left. Well just one thing left to do before he head off.

Tails walked back to the party as everyone was getting the fruit drinks out. He spotted Sonic and grabbed his attention. "Sonic. Mind if we talk for a second" He asked, winking to his younger self as he winked back.

Sonic noticed the exchange and followed. "What was that about?"

"Oh nothing. Anyway, you know I have to head off soon" Tails said as he went to the same area he and his younger self just spoke.

"Yeah I know. What did you want to talk to me about? Any goodbyes should be said to the group you know"

"This is effectively my goodbye Sonic. I don't want a large send off and just want everyone to enjoy... well my party" Tails said with a laugh.

Sonic didn't seem happy with this but didn't push it.

"Right" Tails said, taking out Sonic's ring, taking pleasure in the shocked expression on Sonic's face. "You know what this is and I know who it is for"

Sonic snatched the box back with Tails making no attempt to stop him. "What are you doing with this?"

Tails smiled. "I know my future things got mucked up, but I do happen to know that the ring in your hand does get used"

Sonic looked uncomfortable. "I'm looking for the right time"

Tails laughed, putting his arm around Sonic's shoulder. "Sonic. Today is the day Robotnick has been defeated. You are not going to find a better day to ask."

A thought popped into Sonic's head. "You know I asked today don't you"

Tails nodded.

"So... you know the answer" Sonic asked hopefully.

"God Sonic, man up. I know what the answer is even if I didn't hear you propose it. You know what the answer will be because you got the ring."

Sonic still seemed unsure. Tails decided to be kind to him. "Sonic. Ask her. Don't think. You're not good at that anyway" that got him an annoyed look from Sonic that only made him laugh. "Just ask...No cocky speeches or anything flamboyant. Just take her to one side, got down on your knee and ask her."

And with that Tails got up and started to walk away. Sonic got up and asked. "You're leaving now?"

"Yep. Times up..." Tails said simply, picking out one of the Knothole paths that lead up to the power ring pond.

"That's it?" Sonic asked. "No goodbyes?"

Tails stopped and turned back to Sonic. "Yes Sonic. No goodbyes. Just enjoy the party, marry Sally, celebrate Robotnick's defeat and go on from there" and with that rather poor departure, Tails turned and ran up the path.

Tails soon found himself at the top of the ridge and next to the ring pool.

"This is where it all began" Tails muttered. He slowly and carefully took out Nichole from his pocket and sat down on a stump, just looked down at the water.

"I got away from saying goodbye to everyone else. Rather cowardly of me but... I think you deserve a proper one Nichole" Tails said slowly.

"You... you got me through it all. I don't think I ever said that to you. Even when I figured it out I didn't think I needed to say it... You did so much for me and I never even gave you a single thank you. What does that say about me?" Tails gave a shallow laugh.

Tails took a deep breath. He tried to picture all the times he spent with Nichole. All the arguments they had, all the big moments in their lives... now that Tails thought about it, he had spent 10 years with Nichole and most of that had him simply listening to her. He never tried to converse with her as a person until the end...

Tails shook his head. If he was going to do this, he would try and do it with the right memory in mind. He remembered the last time they were together. The message she left for him. The image she made for herself. She had probably made a digital Mobian body to seem more alive. He tried to picture that face. Her last words.

"I love you too" Tails whispered, gently kissing Nichole and gently placed her in the water. He watched as she slowly sank into the water, bubbles releasing as she went deeper.

Tails watched as she fell but suddenly noticed something. Nichole had stopped sinking. She was floating up again.

"What?" Tails muttered

Nichole kept rising, even after she broke the surface of the water she still rose into the air until she was levitating right infront of Tails. Suddenly a large feathered hand appeared out of thin air, holding Nichole in place. Second over second more of the invisible form became clear until Tails was staring into the face of Tempest.

Tails stood up instantly. "What's going on? I haven't joined the stones yet. Uncle Chuck hasn't arrived"

"That won't be necessary. I have already sent Charles forward in time" Tempest said, unclenching his other hand revealing the other half of the time stone.

"Aw. I see" Tails said, sitting down again. "You here to... you know"

Tempest shook his head. "Not quite"

The giant owl sat next to Tails, letting the water drip from his hand. "I just wanted to talk first"

"Is this about Sally's plan? Will Tails end up like me in the future?"

"Do you want him to?" Tempest asked, looking down to Tails.

Tails had his mouth open ready to reply before he paused and just hung his head. Tempest just chuckled. "No. No I don't see a soldier in his future"

Tails smiled. Knowing it was out of his hands, he didn't feel quite so guilty. About changing his alternative self's future.

"So is this it? Am I about to... disappear?" Tails said, regret dripping thickly from his voice.

"No I don't think so", Tempest said with a grin.

Tails felt confused. "What do you mean?"

"Well there have been developments." Tempest replied shaking his big feathered head.

Tempest Sighed. "When I first said that to you... I may have been stretching the truth"

Tails blinked. Then, he got angry. "You lied to me? You made me think I would... cease to exist? Why!"

Tempest shrugged. "Tails I didn't lie. If it was possible to fix things on my side and tried to put you in the place of an alternative version of you it wouldn't have worked. But there was and still is an alternative option for you."

"So why did you lie to me" Tails asked, trying to force down his anger. He didn't like being played like this.

Tempest stared flatly to Tails. "You really want to know?"

Tails nodded.

"Well, I would like to put this forward, Robotnick's new weapon. Do you know there are two possible futures I see, much like the one you came from, in how they were launched?"

Tails shook his head.

"Well, one was based on the Wolf pack attack failing but pushing Robotnick to launching them. The other is the Wolf pack succeeding in getting to Robotnick and killing him"

Tails really was confused now. "What are you talking about"

"It was the safety measure he spoke about. His heart. He attached a remote switch for the rockets triggered by his heart stopping. If he died, the rockets would have been launched. All of them."

Tails felt stunned. "But... why tell me this now."

Tempest stood up and looked directly at Tails, staring down from his impressive height. "Tails, when I met you, you were suicidal. You were pent up with so much rage and angry I honestly did not think I could trust you as you were. In my position, I can't see all futures. Just a select few possible futures and even then I don't get shown everything. That timeline I told you about, that you needed to create: the wolf pack trials, the 5 man assault. That timeline I saw you either facing your emotional unbalance, engaging with the people you met and another where you kept to yourself. Your condition only worsened. By the end, you were a beast. You would end up killing Robotnick, whether I told you about the safety device or not"

Tails fell back, mouth open. "I would have... I was that bad I would have killed Robotnick... even if it meant killing everyone else..."

Tempest put a large but gentle hand on Tails shoulder. "You would not have even known what you were doing. But you didn't so it doesn't matter. You fixed everything. I also believe you should be completely over your condition within a few months after the physical side affects wear off... it's over.

Tails still kept his head down. "It came that close."

"Little things add up. Your encounter with Rendall. In that timeline you got too late and he had already killed the child. You end up killing him, then killing Fenris and then...well, you know the rest"

"It really was down to the wire" Tails said, chuckling lightly.

"Yes. As I said, a gamble" Tempest replied with a smile.

"So... Are you doing to answer my question then? What happens now" Tails asked, feeling fatigued.

"You get to go down and join in the celebrations. I can hear them from here. I'm guessing they just released the good news"

"What? I'm not going forward in time?" Tails asked.

Tempest laughed. "No. I told you. In the timeline I can see, Tails doesn't grow up into a soldier. He becomes a mechanic. A very good our. Infact he's the one who builds the deroboticizer. Sally doesn't turn him into a warrior because you stay and tell her it's not needed."

Tails felt light on his feet, even sitting down. "I get to stay?"

"Yes. You've made a good life here in such a short time. I had to send Charles back. Two perfect duplicates of himself are not really necessary. But I think I can make an exception for you"

Tails felt light headed. He could stay. With Sally... Sonic... Lupe... even Fenris, Tails joked. He could stay...

"Are you sure?" Tails asked, his voice desperate for conformation.

"Yes. You saved the world Tails. You get your happy ending" He said chuckling. Tempest then looked down at Nichole. "You all will"

And with that, in a puff of smoke that Tails guessed was just used to makes his disappearance a little more flashy, Tempest was gone. He was gone... and he was there. Still.

_Epilogue: Present (1 year later)_

Tails sat waiting in the hospital room, pacing like he had done so for the last 2 hours.

"Please stop that" Fenris asked, sitting in one of the hospital chairs. "You are starting to wear your shoes and the floor tiles."

"When you are here in my shoes, then you get to criticise" Tails said irritably.

Over the last year, alot had changed. After Tails had returned to the party, he had told Sally and Lupe about the news. Sally had slapped him hard enough to draw blood, crying at having him worry her. Lupe had gone the next step and flat punched him in the stomach. The people at the party were confused at such actions but Lupe had simply said "Even" without a look of worry or any negative expression to be seen. After that, the news of the mission had spread and Tails part in it. He had tried to place as much credit as he could on Fenris for planning and organising the whole thing but people didn't seem to listen and had just bought him drinks and shook his hand until he was sure he had felt a click of his joint dislocating.

Since then, he had removed the colour dye from his coat. With his fur returning to its original length, he knew he had to explain to everyone (Bunny, Antoine, Rotor, Dulcy and Tails) who he was. After some time telling each of them little things only he and themselves would know to convince them, he was finally accepted, even by himself surprisingly. All his younger self had said was "Wow, I'm so cool!"

It was there, with his friends that he said that he would need a new name and identity. He couldn't pretend to be a wolf anymore so he needed a new alias. Sally had suggested he stick with Cable but have his last name Prower. That way he could be Tails nephew.

"So that's it. We call you Cable from now on?" Sonic asked, not too happy with the name.

"Well I can't be Tails. Not with you guys. That would just get confusing." Tails said. He thought for a second. "I have it. Have my middle name as Miles. That can be what you guys call me. That is my actual name remember. I can live with that."

Tails younger self looked shocked. "But I... we hate that name".

Tails shrugged. "Well we have always had two names. I get my nick name to be my real name. And you get your real name to be your nick name. It makes sense... I think" Tails said, not too sure at the end after trying to explain it.

"In any case. It's not that bad a name. How does that sound people?"

And as if it had been that easy, Tails suddenly became Miles. Sally was able to invent a new identity for him. And he got to spend all the time he wanted with his friends, no secrets, no hidden past he kept having to tell. He was free.

And so after that and time moved on, things changed, as they do. The cleanup of Robotnick's empire had been fast going. After it had been revealed the Miles was a fox and not a wolf, the pack became agitated and unsure on what was to happen about the challenge, whether they had to do it all over again. Then the elders arrived and had made Miles an honorary Wolf. Miles still lead the pack for a short time until it was officially announced that the war was over. In that time, Miles had decreed Fenris his successor but had specifically announced that the obligations Fenris had to his clan elders was removed, making sure that Fenris only answered to himself.

It was only 30 minutes later that Fenris actually announced that all the clans were to become demilitarised, turning all the remaining battle ready packs into civilians. That was not met well with Rendall and a good deal of the Blood Claws but all the elders put their full weight behind it. Not only that but Fenris had effectively become the hero, next to Sonic, Miles and Sally who had been the main actor in ending the war.

And so, with nothing but cleanup duty for all Freedom Fighters, Miles had nothing to worry about... except Lupe's pregnancy.

And so Tails waited in the hospital waiting room, pacing back and forth with Sonic, Fenris, Rotor, Tails and Antoine. Sally and Bunny had been asked to help with Lupe. How none of the men knew or wished to know how.

"Miles, you're just working yourself up. Just sit down." Rotor asked, also getting tired of Miles pacing, which were getting faster and faster to the point of running.

"Look I-" Miles began before the double doors to the right of them all opened. A male nurse entered the room. "Cable Prower?"

"Yes" Miles answered. "Is there-"

"It's fine" The nurse cut in. "I just have some news. If you would follow."

"Alright" Miles said, visibly sweating now. Both he and the nurse went back through the double doors.

As Miles followed the nurse he tried to ask again for an update but the nurse already answered "Your wife's condition is fine. The child will not be with us just yet. First I wanted to pass on some news. One, we have just checked off the scans. I have good news. Your child is a hybrid."

Miles stopped mid pace and turned to the nurse. A broad grin spread across his face as he asked. "Really? What is she?"

"We don't know yet. We can only tell for certain that she is a feline. We cannot be any more specific but I thought you would like the news now."

"Thats... thats WONDERFUL news!" Miles shouted, actually grabbing the now struggling nurse in a hug.

"I am very happy for you Mister Prower" The nurse said, separating himself from the ecstatic Miles. Suddenly he went to his bussing pager. "Well, it's time"

Miles suddenly froze. "What, now?"

"Yes, now Mister Prower. Let's not keep them waiting" the nurse said, already walking ahead.

Miles almost shot past him in a cloud of smoke but kept himself under control. He needed to calm down. But ever step just made him more anxious. He was about to see his child. He was about to become a daddy. He still had no idea what that entailed, not having one himself for most of his life to draw inspiration from.

Miles calming walked with the nurse, inside a bubbling cauldron of anxiety. It was only when he was outside the operating theatre that he really felt like he would lose it. It was when he was about to enter when he noticed something blocking the door in the corner.

The nurse bent down. "Who left this here" He said irritably, picking up a blackened miniature computer. Its panels mostly burnt and its screen cracked. Miles took the device from the nurse's hands.

...It was Nichole. He would recognise her anywhere. Why on Mobius was she here. Tempest had taken her, he was sure.

Miles turned Nichole over and saw, written into the metal was a message on the panel.

Everyone gets a Happy Ending.

Miles wasn't sure what this meant. Did Tempest leave her here then? But why...? Then a thought hit Miles. His child was feline. Could it be?

Miles entered into the theatre along with the nurse, pocketing the PDA as he saw Sally, Bunny and Lupe hovering over the bundle in her arms.

Lupe smiled up at Miles, looking worn out. "It's a lynx".

Miles walked forward and with all the care he could manage, carefully took the little bundle in her arms and looked at her. Even so soon after birth he could see the faintest outline of her coat. A, brown coat with her legs, hands, ears and hair all black.

Miles remembered that imagine Nichole projected in that message she left for him. It was her. He didn't know how. He didn't know what Tempest had done but somehow he was sure that this innocent little baby in his arms was his Nichole. Somehow he was sure of that.

"She's beautiful isn't she" Lupe said as Miles sat next to her so they could both look down on her.

"She is..." Miles said, feeling tears run down his face.

Lupe looked up and smiled, resting her tired head on his shoulder. "The names we picked were for a wolf. They would fit a fox but I don't think our little cat would appreciate them" She said laughing.

"Nichole..." Miles said. "How does that sound?"

Lupe looked back at her husband and back to Sally and Bunny. "I think it's a wonderful name"

Sally nodded along with Bunny. "It suits her"

Miles smiled and looked down to his baby. This was her. His child. And he was going to make up for everything. He was going to pay Nichole back with interest. She deserved no less.

As the theatre filled with the guys, all hovering over Nichole and Miles, no one noticed the nurse leave the room. None of the hospital staff even mentioned to Miles or anyone else that no one had called him yet, not thinking it was important. So as they all smiled and laughed at their good fortune, the nurse walked down the hallway, not noticed by anyone passing by. The nurse turned a corner and opened what seemed to be a random supply cupboard, which opened up to the main chamber in the temple of the Floating Island. As the nurse entered, he transformed back into his usual form of the caretaker of the time stones.

"He didn't suspect anything?" Tempest asked from the centre of the room.

"I imagine he suspected quite alot, but he does not know the specifics Sir" The caretaker answered.

"Good. It's always better this way" Tempest replied, chuckling to himself.

"Sir. If I may, was that wise? I'm sure there will be repercussions with what you did to that computer."

"Yes I'm sure there will be" Tempest said but in a voice that said he really didn't care. "But what's life without a risk or two. I have a clear conscience." Tempest grinned. "After all, who says you can't write your own happy endings."

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDD...Done!

Well for any of the old readers of this, just to explain. I found the half written chapter on my computer recently. I remembered this story, only partially written and decided in my spare time to finish it. Its not filled with every ting i wanted to write but that would take far too long and add very little I think. If people noticed the scenes seem a little rushed, sorry. I only wanted to get this out and finished. I'm not really into fanfics anymore and just didn't want this hanging over my head. It feels great to have this out the way. Sorry for any spelling mistakes and such, but as I said, I just wanted to finish this for the people who kindly commented my fic. I hope you all enjoy this and thanks for the support.


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